Ashley's Journey
by ArcticLizard7
Summary: Ashley was found abandoned as a baby by her new mother Delia. It was shortly after that, the young child started exhibiting very different behaviour. Most notably, the crazy level of cognitive function she possessed. Is she just an extremely clever human being or is she something more? This is her Journey.
1. Chapter 1: Anything but Ordinary

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon**

Chapter 1: Anything but Ordinary

* * *

The Pokédex, The Pokémon Storage System and the various Pokéballs are just some of the technological breakthroughs to appear in the last few years. Everyone knows the creators. The Pokédex was created by the world-famous Professor Oak. The Pokémon Storage system, created by the equally famous Bill and the various pokéballs available to trainers today were of course created by Kurt. Or so they would have you believe. In reality, these and many other recent inventions were designed and created by only one person. This is that person's story.

Ashley was small for her age, at 13 she stood at just 4'11". She was found as a baby, by a ninetails. Said pokémon was the evolved form of the vulpix given to a certain, Auburn-haired woman, when she started out on her pokémon journey. Seemingly abandoned by her parents, the tiny child was surprisingly full of life, blissfully unaware of her current life-threatening situation. As a woman who was unable to carry a child of her own, Delia Ketchum was at first appalled that someone would just leave a small baby in the middle of Viridian Forest, left for dead. Then came the realisation that this may just be the answer to all her prayers. A child she could call her own. She did a fine job raising the little one into the strong-willed teenager she now is but it quickly became apparent that she was… different, to other kids.

* * *

A four-year-old girl could be seen sat at a desk in her room. Just outside her window the sounds of children playing could be heard. This however, was of little interest to her. You see she just finished tunnelling her way through the security of the International Pokémon Researchers Association (IPRA)'s secure server and was downloading all of the accumulated knowledge on the beings known as Pokémon. She needed some more bed-time reading anyway. She had always been interested in all things pokémon and it always seemed the feeling was mutual. Ashley was a pokémon magnet, when she wasn't breaking half a dozen Pokémon League laws and stealing confidential research, she could often be found at the lab of this region's leading pokémon researcher, Professor Oak.

It was with a contented sigh, not befitting such a young girl, that Ashley slumped back in her chair. The download was complete and she terminated the connection before anyone was any the wiser. Her self-appreciation however was interrupted when she heard the call of her beloved mother.

"Ashley Sweetie, it's time to head to the lab."

"Okay Mommy, I'm coming," she chimed out in reply as she hopped from her desk chair. Yes hopped, as a four-year-old, she couldn't quite reach the floor. The young girl made her way downstairs excitedly, anxious to get to the professor's lab and see the progress he had made on his latest work.

Ten minutes later found the mother daughter duo entering the lab. Delia announced their presence and neither were surprised to hear the crashing and clattering of metal dishes hitting the floor. Clearly the world-renowned professor had yet again fallen asleep at his workstation. It was a few moments later that he stumbled into the lab's main reception area.

"Quilava," he said groggily. Ashley replied without missing a beat.

"Quilava, the second evolutionary form of the Cyndaquil line. It evolves into a Typhlosion with enough battle experience. It keeps its foes at bay with the intensity of its flames and gusts of superheated air. This pokémon applies its outstanding nimbleness to dodge attacks even while scorching the foes with flames. Before battle, it turns its back on its opponent to demonstrate how ferociously its fire blazes. It is fully covered by non-flammable fur and can withstand any kind of fire attack."

"Goodra," Oak said, continuing the apparent test.

"Goodra, the final evolutionary form of the Goomy line. This very friendly Dragon-type pokémon will hug its beloved Trainer, leaving that Trainer covered in sticky slime. It attacks with retractable horns and throws a punch that's the equivalent of the force of a hundred pro boxers. An amazingly friendly pokémon, but if left to itself, loneliness overcomes it, and it oozes gooey tears," she replied, once again without a hint of hesitation.

"Last one, Baltoy."

"Baltoy moves while spinning around on its one foot. Primitive wall paintings depicting this pokémon living among people were discovered in some ancient ruins. As soon as it spots others of its kind, Baltoy congregate and then begins crying noisily in unison. This pokémon sleeps while cleverly balancing itself on its one foot." Delia just stood there, smiling along with their little game.

"Perfect score, yet again. How many is that now?" the professor asked.

"Hi Grandpa Oaky, you've tested me on 563 different species of pokémon so far and you haven't caught me out once," Ashley replied, beaming with pride.

"Right, right, well there is always next time…" the professor replied with a slight smirk on his face. Looking to wipe it off, she timed her retort perfectly.

"Oh really _Professor_ … and which of the possible 800 plus pokémon, assuming the mythical and legendary ones truly exist, do you plan to catch me out with next? Because I might as well remind you that I have studied and memorised all the known information to be found on them." That certainly achieved her goal, the smirk that previously occupied the professor's face had transformed into a mareepish smile, his hand raised to scratch at the back of his head.

"Now, now you two, I think it's about time I put the tea on and made the professor some real breakfast, not the tofu I'm certain he has been stuffing himself with," Delia suggested, effectively diffusing the light hearted back and forth. She then proceeded to the small kitchen found in the living quarters of the facility. Ashley and Professor Oak just shared a quick chuckle, enjoying the apparently regular banter, before heading off to the living room. After taking a seat across from each other on two separate couches, the professor addressed the young girl.

"So Ashley, how are you finding training school?"

"Haven't you heard Grandpa? I've completed the entire syllabus and am currently working towards my professor qualification. Of course, I can't actually take the exams for another few years but that doesn't mean I can't work on my original thesis." To say the professor was stunned would be an understatement, he sometimes forgot just how talented the young girl he thought of as granddaughter really was. To think in just a few short years, she will undoubtedly hold the same title he currently enjoys.

"W-wow… that's incredible Ashley! If you would forgive an old man for prying, on what do you intend to write your paper?" he enquired.

"uh-uh-uh, that would be telling, I will give you a clue. Think _Master Ball._ " Ashley finished with a teasing smile. This of course sent the professor's mind reeling. He knew what she was suggesting but he had always known it to be impossible. The mere notion of a pokéball that was capable of catching any and all pokémon without fail was an exciting yet frightening prospect. The thought that possibly the most intelligent person he had ever met, albeit a 4-year-old, thought that this was a viable subject for her research, was in a word, terrifying. When he eventually came to his senses he felt it necessary to pose a question.

"Do you think that wise Ashley? If something such as that was actually possible, it could change the world as we know it." His trepidation on the subject was apparent. Ashley adopted a serious expression, not meant for a girl of her age.

"It may not be a wise decision but it is something that has plagued my thoughts for a while now and I plan to explore the possibility until it can either be proved possible or hopefully impossible. I cannot promise that this will not have profound effects on the world around us but should I find an answer that may endanger pokémon, I will do all that is in power to destroy all evidence of it." Her face taking on an unnatural level of serious towards the end. If there is one thing that trumps her curiosity and thirst for knowledge, it was her unconditional love for all pokémon kind.

The professor released a breath he hadn't known he was holding. If there is one thing he knew about the girl before him, it was that she had the potential for limitless power. Of course, Professor Oak was a scientist and was a firm believer in the old saying 'Knowledge is Power' so when he thinks limitless power, he's not far from the truth. He did not doubt that, if pushed, she would use all the knowledge at her disposal to protect those she holds dear.

* * *

"You actually did it…" Professor Oak all but whispered. "You actually proved it possible! A Master Ball is actually possible?!" he continued, getting louder as he went. Ashley was currently standing before her beloved grandfather figure, she had just presented him with the final draft of her paper.

"Yes, Grandpa it's possible…but, it is also impossible. As I go on to explain in my paper some of the components necessary to construct the _Master Ball_ would have to be made from _Astatine._ A super rare, naturally occurring, semi metal element. This element however, is so unstable that even if you could procure enough of it to build a single Master Ball, it would be impossible to successfully stabilise it. Even more so, if you could somehow stabilise it, it would be incredibly delicate, not remotely suitable for use in a pokéball," the soon to be Professor Ketchum explained.

"So it's impossible? Like, really impossible?" He questioned, for some reason not willing to just take her eloquent explanation at face value.

"Well let me put in words you'll understand," she said teasingly, the dig didn't go unnoticed by the professor as he was left pouting, the cheek of these 10 year olds. "The possibility of someone finding the required quantity of Astatine, 1 in 116 million. The odds of someone devising a successful way of keeping that quantity stable in a laboratory environment, 1 in 3.5 billion. Finally, the odds of the stabilised element surviving the everyday life of a pokéball, undamaged, for an hour, 1 in 1 trillion. That gives us the odds of a single Master Ball surviving 1 hour to be, 1 in 4.06 times 10 to the power of 29… the math is all there in my paper." The professor was left utterly speechless and some would say rightfully so. Those odds certainly seemed unsurmountable. "Please Grandpa, close your mouth, you won't win the heart of Professor Juniper, gaping like a Magikarp." Seriously, these 10 year olds.

Professor Oak went from gaping like, well, a Magikarp to spluttering and stammering like a fool. "I-I have…N-n-no idea what you are t-talking about young lady!" A tomato blush now covering his entire head. It was with muttered words about 'respecting one's elders' and 'being too young to know about such things' that the grandfather in all but blood signed off on the paper. The signature of _the_ Professor Oak on the document all but guaranteeing her status of professor.

It was then that Delia chose to make an entrance, accompanied by her faithful ninetails. The only person ninetails was perhaps more faithful to was Ashley, they always had a seeming unexplainable bond, understanding each other on a whole new level. Delia of course was anything but jealous of their closeness, it warmed her heart to see them share a special bond.

Delia was now 30 years old, not that you would believe it to see her, she didn't look a day over 25. Coincidently, 25 was the age that she stopped having to work at a local restaurant and was instead living a life of relative luxury. How you ask? Let's just say that the vast amount of revenue, generated from the sales of certain inventions, kept her bank balance well topped up. Disproving the possibility of the ultimate pokéball was something that required a certain amount of… experimentation. Those experiments, completed with the aid of the Greatball and Ultraball inventor Kurt, became the more specialised pokéballs used to capture certain species. The Heavy Ball for the heavier species such as Snorlax, The Dive Ball for water dwelling species and the Luxury Ball to name but a few. The Luxury Ball was arguably Ashley's favourite. Being a pokéball that pokémon enjoy a lot more due to its more luxurious pocket dimension and the ability to see the outside world, encouraged the inhabitant to become friendlier much quicker than normal. Being a minor and not wanting the publicity, these inventions were accredited to the now 'Master Pokéball Builder' Kurt, this didn't stop the majority of the money gained from sales, being sent to the mother of the rightful owner.

"Look Mom, look! I'm going to be a professor!" Ashely all but screamed at her mother, waving the newly signed paper under her nose.

"That's great baby, you know I never doubted you for a second," Delia said as she brought her only child into a loving embrace. Ninetails, wanting in on the affection wrapped a number of her tails around the pair. Oak just smiled at the small yet very happy family. "Now you go and upload your paper on the IPRA server and I'll book the four of us a table at the restaurant, to celebrate."

"The four of us?" Ashley asked.

"Yes sweetie. You, me, the professor and Gary," Delia said offhandedly, not taken any notice of the suddenly glum mood of her daughter. Let's just say Ashley and Gary didn't get on, what with Ashley taking up the majority of Professor Oaks time and her being vastly more intelligent than the elder Oak himself, Gary was insanely jealous and often took it out on poor Ashley. Being the strong-willed person that she is though, Gary was often the one that ended up worse for wear.

"Mom, I know he's Oaky's grandson but do you really have to invite him? Now Daisy I'm fine with," Ashley responded dejectedly. Oak stood in an awkward silence, he knew she had a good reason for not liking his grandson. His arrogance and self-righteousness knew no bounds, the professor had tried to steer him in the right direction but he couldn't seem to get through to him.

"Oh, right I forgot about Daisy, I'll book it for 5," said Delia, completely ignoring Ashley's dislike of the annoying boy. Her daughter could do nothing but groan, never had she argued with her mother and she didn't plan to start here. At least Daisy's presence might dissuade Gary from being a complete ass to her. Daisy being the older of the two Oak siblings meant that she could deal out justice where others can't. Ashley smirked to herself at the thought.

The dinner actually ended up as a double celebration, Ashely was finally getting her professorship and Daisy, being 13, was heading out on her pokémon journey the following day. Gary of course played up a couple of times and relentlessly teased the young girl but Daisy was quick to put a stop to the idiot when she got the chance. She would often send a playful wink in Ashley's direction.

A few hours later and the young pre-teen could be found in her room with Daisy, both chatting away about pokémon. Being the granddaughter of the famous Professor Oak meant that she was perfectly comfortable with incredibly smart people, she was the only real friend Ashley had in Pallet Town. Needless to say, the young girl wasn't thrilled about her only friend leaving in the morning.

"I'm going to miss you so much Daisy…" she mumbled out. Daisy just put on a calm smile and replied.

"I'll miss you too, you crazy little Brainiac but I have to leave this little town at some point. And anyway, you'll be going on your own journey in 3 short years," she said in an attempt to cheer up her friend. It worked slightly. "Now let's talk starters, I think I need your help, I just can't seem to pick."

Ashley thought for a moment before replying. "Well, it ultimately comes down to what you are planning to do on your journey." Seeing she had to explain her thought process, she continued. "If you're looking to challenge the Gyms and then compete at the Indigo Plateau, then I would suggest Bulbasaur. Not only is he a well-balanced battler in his pre-evolved form but he also has the type advantage in the first two gyms you are likely to encounter. You may run into trouble when you get to the Saffron Gym but I would recommend you leave that one until a bit later. By which time you should have other pokémon to cover your starter's weaknesses." Daisy simply nodded knowing she wasn't yet finished. "Squirtle isn't a bad choice at all, he is another well balanced battler, although he leans more towards defence than say, Charmander. You'll have a different problem with Charmander than with Bulbasaur, the first Gym you are likely to challenge would be the Pewter City Gym. Like the city itself the Gym is known for its love of all things rock. Of course, you'll be facing their beginners team and Charmander can learn Metal claw so you aren't completely without hope. Although a victory there would likely lead to facing the Cerulean City Gym, a water type Gym. Not only will your Charmander struggle greatly there but there are also very few pokémon with a type advantage that you could pick up on the way. He will have an easier time against the Celadon City Gym and the Fuchsia City Gym. That being said, type advantages aren't everything and a well-trained Fire type will still beat a poorly trained Water type."

"And if I don't want to challenge the Gyms?" Daisy asked.

"Then you have hundreds of options available to you but most people focus on contests when they don't like the idea of Gyms. You may have to travel to different regions for some good competition as Kanto isn't quite up to standard yet but that could be fun as well. I would probably say Bulbasaur again is the strongest starter for contests, he learns the various powder moves at an early stage and these can be combined with other grass type moves to create something really spectacular." She stopped here to let Daisy digest all that she had said. "Also, Bulbasaur are the more chilled out species and would likely bring a fire breathing Charizard like yourself down to earth." She finished with a smirk.

Daisy wasn't slow by any means but it took a little longer than she was proud of to stop nodding along with the explanation and realise she had just been called a fire breathing dragon. "HEY! What do you mean Charizard!?" By this point Ashley was rolling around the floor in a fit of giggles. Daisy seeing her friend's defences were down, pounced on her and proceeded to tickle her into submission and hopefully receive an apology. It was during this rough and tumble that Daisy's hips had worked her way between the legs of the friend, who she currently had pinned beneath her.

Their eyes met and got locked in an intense stair as they breathed heavily due to the tickle fight that occurred moments before. It was a few too many seconds later that Daisy worked up the courage to say something. "Ashley… Have you ever kissed anyone?" she said lowly.

"No, why would I have kissed anyone? I'm only 10," she replied.

"Yes, but you are much more mature than that, aren't you curious?" Daisy finished with a sly smile.

"What is there to be curious about, we know everything there is to know about kissing. One kiss requires the coordination of 146 muscles total, including 34 facial muscles and 112 postural muscle-" She was cut off as Daisy slammed their lips together, obviously believing in a more practical application. Ashley's eyes shot wide open as she realised what was happening, then she realised she didn't dislike what was happening and began to close them. The kissed lasted only a few seconds before Daisy pulled away, leaving Ashley with half lidded eyes. Daisy then removed herself from the compromising position and made to leave.

"Wait!" Ashley shouted. "Where are you going?"

"I have to get up early tomorrow remember, to pick up my Bulbasaur, that was just something to remember me by." She then threw a wink Ashley's way before leaving the room and heading downstairs. If Ashley was listening, she would have heard a call of 'Goodnight Delia' before the opening and closing of the front door. She didn't hear this though, being too lost in her thoughts.

'So, do I like girls or was it just Daisy…? This is definitely going to require some research,' she thought, as her fingers finally fell from her lips.

The next morning Ashley awoke to a strange sensation, she could feel herself walking up the hill to the lab and could almost see it against the blank canvas that was her ceiling. Shaking the feeling away she decided to get up and washed, Daisy was leaving today she had only 3 years before she would be as well. Time to get to work.

* * *

3 years went quicker than ever. Although upset that she couldn't further research her sexuality, Ashley did accomplish a fair few other things with her time. She was awarded her status of Professor shortly after her paper was submitted and she had since worked on a number of collaboration projects, with some of the other scientists.

One scientist in particular was Bill, he was in the process of designing a pokémon transport system used to transfer pokémon between the various pokémon centres and the trainer's sponsoring professor or guardian of choice. When he started his research and development for the project 5 years ago, he estimated it would likely take 10 years to complete. He was proved wrong however, when Ashely joined his team and once again proved that her genius knew no bounds. The system was successfully completed and implemented, in all the pokémon centres, across all the known regions, 2 years ago.

During her time on this project she was working on a small device that would act as an encyclopaedia for new trainers to learn about each species of pokémon. Being as busy as she was with Bill's project, she left the idea with Professor Oak, who then gathered all the known information for each species and entered it into a database. This database would later be uploaded to the device. Ashley meanwhile was working on the invention itself in her free time. She completed the prototype last year and it all worked perfectly. This lead to some changes that each sponsoring professor would have to abide by when the next few trainers started this year. A trainer was now required to take an exam, that if passed, would earn them a regional starter pokémon and a _Pokédex,_ from the professor in their home region. It was a trainer aptitude test that could only be taken once. Being the developer of such a device meant that she didn't have to take the exam, not that there would be much point in taking the exam that she herself designed.

All that, lead her to this day, the first day of her own pokémon journey and it was at the foot of the hill leading to the lab, that we find our young heroine. Standing at only 4'11" she didn't cut the most imposing figure but the early stages of puberty have been extremely kind. With a bra size of 28DD, she wasn't huge but still had plenty to work with. Her waist looked noticeably thinner than her chest and her hips, giving her the early stages to a perfect hourglass figure. Her raven hair fell to just above her bum and her deep purple eyes stood out from the crowd. All in all, she was a 'hottie'.

She wore a set of short and snug, denim dungarees over a white tank top with a pair of white high-top trainers. She may be a professor but she was a pretty, young girl first. It was with excitement and slight anxiousness that she made her way up the stairs to the lab. She wasn't anxious about her journey but about returning home as quickly as possible. Her favourite pokémon Ninetails, had and egg a week ago and Ashley was helping care for the egg and also aiding the recovery of the soon to be mother.

Bursting through the front door of the lab she shouted out to the professor. "Oaky, you in here?" It was then that she noticed the furniture was upturned and stuff was sprawled all over the floor. Either there had been a break in or one of the wilder pokémon had gotten loose in the lab area. Hearing a crash and then a dull thud she, against her better judgement, ran towards the noise to see just want caused it. It was there that she came across a most amusing sight. Laid on the floor face down was a slightly roughed up professor, the perpetrator was perched on the back of his head looking up at Ashley with its head cocked to one side as if curious.

 **"Vee!"** it shouted as it leapt from the back of the professor's head into the waiting arms of her new trainer. It was an eevee, and it was sent over by Bill a few days ago. His eevee had laid an egg but he didn't have the time to correctly raise the small pokémon, it was then that he remembered a certain raven haired young girl was about to start her journey. Hearing that Bill had such a rare pokémon for this region and he was willing for her to train it, she naturally jumped at the chance.

The eevee nuzzled its new trainer with great affection, before jumping up and perching on her shoulder. "Sleeping on the job professor?" Ashley teased. All she got in response is a groan as the older man pulled himself to his feet and gave her a heated glare. The teenager just smiled in return and turned to leave shouting about getting home as quickly as possible, she did manage to grab Eevee's luxury ball on the way out.

"Wait! Aren't you going to help me clear up?! It was your little terror that made all this mess!" The professor tried in vain to call after her. Alas she was gone.

Making the quick journey home with Eevee now walking alongside her, Ashley talked to her about all her plans. "First, I'll challenge the Gyms and then head to the Indigo League, Then I'll travel to Hoenn maybe and compete in the Ever Grand Conference, possibly do a contest or two whilst I'm there. Like everything I do, I'll aim to be the best I can be. Are you with me Eevee?" she said turning to look down at the small pokémon.

 **"Vee Vee!"** Eevee responded by cheering her name a few times and then leaping back up to her spot on Ashley's shoulder.

"I'm really happy you want to help Eevee! Now let's go check on Ninetails." the teen said as she sped off down the road. Reaching her house, she swung open the door and called out. "Mom, I'm home and Eevee's with me."

"In here baby, I'm with Ninetails," she heard her mom respond. Entering the den, the room where Ninetails sleeps when she gets fed up of Ashley kicking her in the night, she saw her mom brushing out all of the pokémon's nine tails. Ninetails' body was wrapped around the egg, keeping it warm. As she spotted Ashley coming through the door to the den, all her tails started thrashing uncontrollably in her excitement. This in turn pushed Delia from the stool she was sitting on and she landed on her rear. "Thanks Ninetails, I see how it is…" Delia pouted. To Ninetails' credit, she did have an apologetic look when she turned towards her trainer.

"Ni-nine!" she said in greeting to her favourite teenager.

"Hello to you too Ninetails, how are you feeling today?" Ashley replied

"Nine!" she said whilst nodding her head profusely. Obviously feeling pretty good.

"Good I'm glad to see you're feeling better, I'm going to miss you all so much," she started and Ninetails seemed to look a subdued by this reminder. "I won't be around for your egg to hatch and I'm sorry about that but I have left detailed instruction for mom. That way she can do the health checks when I'm not here," she finished, kneeling to pet Ninetails under her chin.

"Nine ni-Nine," the pokémon exclaimed whilst shaking her head. Ashley looked confused at first but then looked to her mom, who had a serene smile on her face. It was then that she felt a weight be shifted into her lap and she looked down to see the egg, wrapped in two of the fox pokémon's tails. It suddenly dawned on her.

"Wait! Ninetails you can't be serious, this is your baby!" Ashley was quick to point out, not believing what Ninetails was willing to do. The fox merely nodded her head and pushed the egg firmly into the teens grasp. Ashley then began to tear up as she realised what her friend was really giving her. "T-thank you Ninetails, you don't know what this means to me." Turning to her starter pokémon she said "Look Eevee, we already have another new friend." Eevee, who had so far remained quiet, hopped down from her trainer's shoulder to the ground and nuzzled the egg. She then looked Ninetails right in the eye with a confident and determined smile. The message was clear, Eevee would do all she could to protect the baby pokémon. Ninetails yipped happily in thanks.

Leaving the egg in the warm embrace of its mother, Ashley explained that she was going to get an incubator she had in storage. She herself had raised a couple of eggs for the professor. Coming back with the incubator, she set it to the fire pokémon setting and placed the egg inside. She then placed a Luxury Ball on the lid of the incubator. She carefully placed the incubator into her pack, and looked to the two mothers, before launching herself whole bodily at Delia.

"I love you mom, and I love you Ninetails! I'll be back before the Indigo League starts okay?" she explained.

"We love you too sweetie," Delia started with Ninetails nodding along "be safe out there and show the world what Ashley Ketchum is made of." She pulled out of the loving embrace and looked her daughter in the eye. "You'll do great things baby, I just know it."

"Thanks mom," Ashley replied before removing her arms from around her mother and turning to leave. She made it to the door before turning and with great confidence she said, "I'm going to be a Pokémon Master, believe it." Before making her way out, Eevee now trailing behind her.


	2. Chapter 2: Anything but Terrified

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

Chapter 2: Anything but Terrified

* * *

Ashley was making her way through route 1, she knew that there weren't any pokémon she wanted to catch found on this route, but she was keeping her eyes peeled and her ears open, just in case. A few hours in, they heard a blood curdling scream. Ashley turned to Eevee, still perched on her shoulder.

 **"Vee?"** Eevee asked.

"I don't know girl, lets go find out!" Ashley responded, seemingly understanding the pokémon's question. That had been happening more often lately. Running through a particularly thick row of bushes, they found themselves on a small shore, on the edge of a large river. The giant, blue sea serpent reaching high out of the water and roaring to the heavens, immediately caught their eye. The gyarados then seemed to focus on something laying on the shore. Ashley followed its gaze and saw a girl around her age, laying there motionless, petrified by fear. "Eevee, we have to help." Eevee practically gaped at her trainer, what was she expected to do exactly? Picking up on her reservation, the teen attempted to reassure her. "Trust me Eevee, I promise you'll be safe." Eevee just stared before nodding slowly.

* * *

Misty was pissed at her sisters, how dare they call her runt and tease her relentlessly. Weren't they the ones to promise their mother that they would always look out for her? So much for that last request. It's not her fault she turned out different. So she wasn't interested in flaunting her assets to crowds of people and preferred to battle. A Gym leader preferring battle, to over dramatic pokémon swimming shows, isn't that how it should be?

Misty was pulled from her thoughts by a gentle tugging on her line, first catch of the day. With an almighty pull, she wrenched the pokémon from its natural habitat. Not at all pleased by this revelation, the still airborne magikarp started to glow brightly. Now Misty was fanatic about almost all water pokémon but if there was one that truly terrified her, it was gyarados. As the light that was once magikarp receded, it revealed the infamous atrocious pokémon. It roared to the sky and then turned its gaze to its provoker.

Misty now frozen in place could do nothing as the pokémon surged towards her with an open maw. Staring at her approaching doom she failed to hear the shout of another person. It was only when a small brown fox-like pokémon, slammed whole bodily into the side of the gyarados' head, knocking its bite attack off course, did she come to her senses.

Looking around, she spotted another girl running towards her shouting. "Don't just sit there Braces, get up! Eevee use Quick Attack to dodge, do NOT get hit!" Eevee yipped in agreement to that order, she wasn't keen on the idea of getting hit by a pokémon of that size, or worse… eaten.

* * *

Ashley ran towards the still motionless girl and gave her pokémon the order to dodge everything. Reaching the redhead, she pulled her up and dragged her to the bushes at the edge of the shore, all the while keeping an eye on Eevee. She was tiring, she was young and couldn't keep up the repeated quick attacks. Leaving her pack with the petrified girl, she ran in the direction of the battle. "Eevee, dodge the next attack and then run to the bushes!" And she did just that, moving to the side of another bite attack albeit barely, she sprinted to the protection of the bushes, passing her trainer on the way…Wait, what? Why was her trainer still running towards the sea serpent? She stopped and turned to see what exactly her trainer was planning.

The gyarados pulled its head from the sand once again and turned its gaze on the new arrival. Ashley stood there staring the Atrocious pokémon in the eye. "Stop Gyarados, I know you're angry but you need to calm down, we aren't going to hurt you!" Either it didn't comprehend her words or didn't believe them, whatever the case may be, it attempted another bite attack. The raven-haired teen always had beyond outstanding reaction time and so was able to jump back from the attack.

Eevee was left to watch as her trainer faced down the ferocious gyarados. The teen would plead for it to stop and when it didn't, she would dodge any attack launched. At one point, she witnessed her trainer dodge what she believed to be a Dragon Rage attack. Gyarados launched attacks, one after another, until suddenly it stopped.

Ashley had been avoiding imminent death for the last 5 minutes and she was tiring, fortunately for her that last Dragon Rage attack seemed to wear the gyarados out. It suddenly stopped, looked the young girl in the eye for a few seconds, then fell forward, hitting the ground with an almighty crash. Ashley had to cover her eyes from the dust blown up from its fall. When it cleared, the gyarados was revealed to be unconscious. She reached into her Pocket and pulled out a small spherical device that enlarged in her grasp. The Ball was deep blue at the bottom and white at the top, a light blue wave like pattern separated the two colours. It was a Dive Ball.

"You have a lot of heart, I can respect that. I'll ask you properly when you wake up but for now, I'd like you to join me," the small girl said before tapping the Dive Ball to the centre of its aqua blue crest. It was with very little resistance that the pokéball dinged a successful capture.

Ashley shrunk the now occupied Dive Ball to one of the six slots that sit at the bottom of her back, running horizontally, built right into her clothing. She then headed off to see how Eevee and the girl, who she still only knew as 'Braces', were doing.

Reaching the bushes, she noticed Eevee was looking, with some concern, at the unmoving girl. On closer inspection, it became apparent, she was unconscious. She did the normal first aid checks and came to the conclusion, that at least physically, she was fine. Taking her sleeping bag from her pack, Ashley laid it down and placed the redhead onto it, doing her best to make sure she was comfortable. Looking closely at her face, she realised that she was actually in the company of a Cerulean City Gym leader. She was the youngest of the so called Sensational Sisters, Misty Waterflower. But if this really was Misty then she should have had pokémon to battle with and why, oh why would she be terrified of gyarados? Choosing to think about that later she sat down next to her new charge to rest, dodging so many attacks was tiring.

* * *

Misty was coming to and realised she was now resting on something soft. Opening her eyes to assess the situation, she found herself laying someone's sleeping bag. She noticed that whoever had placed her upon it, had taken great care to ensure she was comfortable and had left her in the recovery position. She wondered for a second, what it was she had recovered from exactly. She shot up suddenly to a sitting position and looked around. Her eyes then met those of another person and she found herself lost in their beauty. A deep purple, the likes of which she had never seen before. It was another few seconds before she realised that the person she had been staring at, had in fact been trying to speak to her.

"Glad to see you're awake. You were beginning to scare me there," Ashley said when Misty made eye contact. Noticing the blank stare on her charge's face, she decided to check if she remembered what had happened. Memory loss wasn't common, considering the lack of head injury but she had studied medicine enough to know, it wasn't impossible. "Do you remember what happened?"

Misty having actually listened to her that time, took on a thinking posture and after a few moments she nodded slowly. "I think so… I was fishing and I caught a magikarp, it then evolved into a gyarados and I blacked out… No wait! There was an eevee and it saved my life, please tell me it's okay?!" she shouted pleadingly.

"Yeah, she's just fine, don't worry. She's resting in her pokéball at the moment. I'm her trainer, Ashley Ketchum, glad to meet you," Ashley said as she offered her hand for a shake.

"Oh thank Arceus, my name is Misty Wa-Walker." She returned the handshake and made to stand. The slip didn't go unnoticed by Ashley but she chose to file it away for later. "Thank you for looking after me, have you seen my bike anywhere, I left it just over there?" Misty asked, pointing over to open space on the beach. Ashley flinched at the question. Seeing this, the redhead raised an eyebrow and asked the $1m question. "What happened to my Bike?!" More like shouted it really.

"Well it kind of…" Ashley trailed off at the end.

"I didn't quite catch that, it _what_ exactly?" Misty's voice seemed strained.

"It… blew up," the raven-haired teen admitted guiltily. Seeing Misty was about to blow up herself, see sought to counteract it. "Wait! It wasn't me, it was Gyarados." Seeing this have the desired effect she continued. "But it's okay now because I caught her," Ashley said, grinning away. Whatever anger was lost, quickly made a come-back with that little revelation.

"You caught it?! You let it blow up my Bike and then you caught it?! I don't believe this, you expect me to just say it's okay because you came out of this situation with a new pokémon?!" Misty was pacing back and forth. "I'll tell you what, _your_ pokémon blew up _my_ bike, meaning _you_ can buy _me_ a new one! Understand?!"

'Seriously did she just forget I saved her life?' Ashley thought. 'Maybe I should remind her of that. And she has the cheek to lie about who she is.' Then she looked at the angry fire burning in Misty's eyes. 'On second thought, I think I'll just buy her a new Bike.' And just like that she was nodding her understanding.

"Good. I'm glad you understand, now how about we head to Viridian city? That's where you were going right?" Ashley couldn't believe the complete change in demeanour but she was grateful for it nonetheless.

"Sounds good, I'll just check on Eevee. Come on out girl!" Ashley called out the small evolution pokémon, as soon as she appeared she hopped up her trainers extended arm and onto her shoulder. She nuzzled her cheek against that of her owner. "Hey sweetie, you feeling better?" Eevee yipped in confirmation. "Good, I would like you to meet someone. Misty meet Eevee, Eevee meet Misty," Ashley said as she gestured between the two.

"Nice to meet you Eevee, thank you for your help earlier, you saved my life," Misty said genuinely grateful to the little fox-like pokémon. Eevee yipped in a 'you're welcome' fashion and then turned back to her trainer.

"Right let's go… right after this." The raven-haired teen then strolled to the edge of the river, pulled the Dive Ball off her back and released Gyarados from its confines. As it was released it roared to the sky and both Misty and Eevee seemed to pale at the implications.

"Well I'm glad to see you're all better too!" Ashley shouted up to the head of the beast, a good 10'-15' above her. The gyarados then took in its surroundings and focused on the small girl, standing surprisingly calm before her. "I'm your new trainer." It growled at that comment. "I know you didn't ask for this but I couldn't just leave you passed out at the side of a river, any trainer could have come along and captured you. I only did so, so I could ask you now, would you like to come with me?" The atrocious pokémon was confused by that, did she really do it for her sake. Examining the girl for any sign of deceit, she found none. So, it was her choice, did she want a trainer? She never wanted one as a magikarp but now… Now she had a craving for battle, she wanted to battle strong opponents and reach the pinnacle of her species.

"I will understand if you don't want to but will you at least hear me out?" asked Ashley. Receiving a tentative nod, she continued. "My name is Ashley Ketchum, I have always strived to be the best at everything I do. I'm aiming for the position of pokémon master but to do so, I will need the best pokémon by my side. I know that along with your new evolution, you have acquired some new instincts, they are telling you to battle and become the strongest. I can help you do that, I am very knowledgeable on your species and using that knowledge, I will take you to the pinnacle of strength! So, what do you say? Want to join my team?"

Gyarados was stunned, the trainer knew of her changes, before even she could fully understand them. She knew she now craved strength, maybe this was the best thing for everyone. No, she was now sure it was. With her mind made up, she lowered her head towards the trainer. Ashley reached out her hand and let the giant serpent like pokémon place her crest against it. She then proceeded to gently rub the crest, Gyarados was basically cooing at the contact. If Misty and Eevee were scared before, now they couldn't help but be impressed.

"Atta girl, you will always be the first pokémon I ever caught," Ashley said to her new team member. Misty looked startled by that comment.

'Did she just say that was the first pokémon, she ever caught. That can't be right, no new trainer can control a gyarados with such ease!' she thought. She looked at the eevee still perched on the trainer's shoulder. 'Is she her starter? She must know a breeder or something.' She surmised internally.

"I'm going to return you to your pokéball now Gyarados, but I'll let you out as often as possible." The atrocious pokémon just nodded as she disappeared into the ball, via a beam of red energy. Turning to her temporary travel companion, the young teen asked. "Shall we?". The redhead nodded and waited for Ashley to grab her pack. The dungaree wearing girl then lead them back out to route 1.

* * *

Misty had been trailing behind her new companion for a while now and they were almost to Viridian City. Ashley snuck glances back at her now and then, she wasn't sure why she was back there, until she followed her gaze to her own pert bum. 'So the research finally begins,' she thinks to herself.

"Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medias and Gluteus Minimus," Ashley said out of the blue, pulling Misty from her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

"The muscles you seem to be studying intensely," she replied, with a sly smirk on her face. Misty blushed brightly at being caught.

"S-Sorry, it's not what it looks like!" she said apologetically.

"Oh really, well it looked very much like you were studying the skeletal muscles found in the human body, starting with the Gluteus group. It makes me wonder, if that wasn't what you were doing… then what _were_ you doing?" The devious smile still firmly in place. Misty turned an all new shade of red and attempted a retort but it just ended up a stuttering mess. She was then thrown through a loop when noticed the very suggestive smile on Ashley's face.

'Wait, is she flirting with me?! No way, she can't be. She's so hot and I'm… well… not. There's no way she would be interested in me.' She lost herself in her self-deprecating thoughts.

"Aww Misty, you don't give yourself enough credit," Ashley replied as if reading her mind.

"H-how did you-" she started before being cut off.

"I'm perceptive," the lead teen said, as if it answered all her questions. Unfortunately, before Misty had a chance to ask anything else they were startled by someone shouting at them.

"Halt! Who are you? And why is that pokémon out of its ball?" Turning to the voice, the two teens realised they had been stopped by Officer Jenny, at the entrance to Viridian City. Jenny was a fairly tall woman at around 5'9" and had blue hair tied in a spikey ponytail. She wore the ever-practical female officer uniform, consisting of a mid-thigh length, dark blue skirt, a two-tone dark and light blue blouse and the standard blue circular police cap, with a black peak.

Ashley reached for her pokédex, good job she had programmed these to act as a form of identification. Misty reached for her ID, she seemed somewhat protective of it as she kept it covered. "Good evening Officer Jenny, this should answer your first question…" Ashley said as she handed over her pokédex. Finding the ID button on the device, Officer Jenny pushed it and listened for its response.

"I'm Dexter, a pokédex programmed by Professor Oak for Professor Ashley Ketchum," chimed the pokédex. Misty raised her eyebrows at the professor comment and Jenny went stiff all of a sudden.

"As for my eevee, she just prefers being out," Ashley finished.

"Oh my arceus! You're Professor Ketchum? I heard you were very young but… I thought they just meant by professor standards. Me and my family are such big fans. We read all your papers and we exchange notes on them and- Oh my arceus, they are going to be so jealous when they hear about this!" The three travellers sweat-dropped at the reaction.

"Here's my ID officer," Misty offered, mostly to stop the usually very professional Officer Jenny, fangirling over her new companion.

"Oh there's no need for that, any friend of the professor here, must be a great person. Please go right ahead, I'm sorry I interrupted your journey," the officer said waving them through.

"No problem officer, keep up the good work," Ashely said as she walked away, Misty this time keeping stride beside her.

When they were out of earshot the redhead turned to the professor. "'Keep up the good work'? And why didn't you tell me you were a professor?" Ashley kept looking forward.

"Just something I've always wanted to say. Also, you never asked," she said coolly. Misty just shrugged the comments off and the two remained in a comfortable silence for the rest of the way.

* * *

The sun had all but set when the duo and Eevee arrived at the Viridian City pokémon centre. They headed towards the main desk, where Nurse joy was sitting. Joy was a woman of average height, with pink hair tied into two looped ponytails. She wore a pink dress covered by a white apron and a small nurses hat, the hat had a pink cross on the front, indicating her status.

"Well if it isn't little Ashley!" the nurse greeted, as the travellers approached.

"Hi Joy, how are things?" Ashley asked.

"Good thank you, who's your friend?" the nurse asked back.

"Oh right, introductions. Misty this is Nurse Joy, Nurse Joy this is Misty, we just met today but I have a feeling we'll be _great_ friends," the teen said throwing Misty a suggestive smile. Fortunately, Nurse Joy didn't seem to notice.

" Well it's nice to meet you Misty, I hope you take good care of little Ashley here, she's sometimes too… _curious_ for her own good." Okay so she definitely noticed the earlier look. Misty just blushed at the implication before replying as best she could.

"Of course Nurse Joy, I'll make sure she stays out of trouble." Nurse Joy simply laughed out loud at the statement, earning a confused look from Misty and a pout from her companion.

"Sorry Misty, I shouldn't have laughed, but I don't think you'll be able to keep a promise like that." Ashley continue to pout before realising she still wanted to check in and hand over Gyarados and Eevee.

"Nurse Joy, could you take a look at Eevee and Gyarados for me? I believe they're in good shape, just a tired and hungry. Gyarados evolved earlier today, so if it's okay, I'd like her measurements."

"Of course Professor, anything for you," Nurse Joy said playfully. Earning another pout from Ashley.

'Must be an inside joke,' Misty thought to herself. Revealing three of her own pokéballs, the redhead handed them over to Joy and asked her to check them over. She thanked the nurse and turned to see Ashley walking towards a familiar locked door. It had some kind of security pad to the right of it, upon which Ashley placed her pokédex. A faint beep was heard and the door allowed the raven-haired teen entrance.

"Hey, where are you going?" Misty called as she followed behind her new friend. After entering the room, the door slid closed behind her. Looking around the room which was clearly a bedroom, she couldn't help but notice how luxurious it was, in comparison to the usual pokémon centre rooms.

"It's the professor suite, you can find them in almost all pokémon centres, across the globe," Ashley explained offhandedly.

Misty was shocked by this revelation, sure she had seen the locked doors before but she had always assumed it was staff only areas. "It's amazing, it's like a hotel suite in here! I bet it's really expensive."

"Not at all," the smaller teen started "it's paid for by the league, unless the visiting professor is using it for recreational activities. If I was say, using it as a hotel room and vacationing here, I would have to make a contribution but as my pokémon journey is considered a research trip, I don't have to." Misty nodded her understanding.

Ashley placed her bag on the bed and then carefully removed the incubator. She then went about her daily visual inspections before addressing the control panel for the more intimate details. Watching her friend go about these checks, Misty decided to voice another question.

"I didn't realise you had an egg with you, what is it?" she asked.

"It's a vulpix egg, my mother has a ninetails and she entrusted me with her egg, before I left on my journey," Ashley replied.

"And what are you doing with it now?"

"I'm checking for any irregularities in the surface of the egg, of which there are none. This means that the pokémon inside is likely forming correctly. I am also checking the temperature and humidity setting on the incubator. pokémon of different types, need different conditions. Although pokémon eggs will generally survive outside of these conditions, within reason, to successfully hatch a pokémon in prime health, you would usually want to keep a strict eye on the temperature and the humidity inside the incubator," Ashley explained.

"Wow! That's really interesting, so what conditions does a vulpix egg require?"

"Being a fire type pokémon, a vulpix is generally used to higher temperatures and areas of lower humidity. The same principles apply here. A normal type egg should be kept at 37.5°C and with an ambient humidity of around 40-50%" Misty was just attempting to stay with her and hopefully she will understand it all, when she's done. "This vulpix egg however, will be kept at a temperature of 40°C and a humidity of 30-40% for the duration of its incubation. If all goes well, it should hatch in 2 weeks' time."

"Well you certainly know your stuff, I can't honestly say I understood it all but I get most of it. How did you learn all that?" the ever-curious Misty went on to ask.

"I had access to the papers written by the other professors from a young age and I spent some of my downtime right here, helping Joy out with her patients." Ashley finished her checks and placed the incubator in a secure locker, before moving to the attached bathroom with her towel. "I think I'll get washed up, grab some food and head to bed. What about you?" she asked the redhead.

"I'll probably do the same, I'll ask Nurse Joy for a room after dinner," she replied.

"No need for that, you can stay here with me, you wouldn't want me running out on you before I paid for your bike now, would you? You can shower when I'm done." Ashley winked at her playfully before heading into the bathroom to shower.

'There's that smile again, and she didn't even lock the door,' Misty thought. 'Not to mention she doesn't seem to care that there is only one bed, albeit a double.'

* * *

The two girls were now, heading out into the cafeteria, Misty still red-faced due to Ashely stepping out the bathroom, in very short towel. They each helped themselves to the food that was on offer and sat at a nearby table.

They were half way through their meal when Nurse Joy brought their pokémon to them and joined them at the table. She could see the front desk from her seat so she wouldn't miss someone coming in.

They discussed a few things like Gyarados' above average size and the correct way to care for the pokémon. Something which they all agreed on, Misty's knowledge on the subject was surprisingly thorough but it should have been expected from the water pokémon specialist, Ashley knew her to be.

The shattering of glass could be heard from the main foyer and a thick cloud of smoke bellowed through the now 'open' skylight.

"We have company and not the good kind," Ashley stated, seeing the smoke for what it truly was, a smokescreen attack. "Joy, make your way to the pokémon transfer room and get them sent to Pewter City. Misty you're with me." Ashley seemed gravely serious and neither Nurse Joy or Misty wanted to argue with her. Eevee, who had been called out during the earlier conversation, was now back on her trainer's shoulder, awaiting orders. "Eevee, I can hear some sort of weird conversation coming from reception, do you think you can locate them in that smoke?" Eevee angled her ears forward listening intently to what she thought were three people and two pokémon, or was it two people and three pokémon, one of the voices was very confusing. Either way she had located them and she turned to her trainer to confirm as much with a nod.

"Misty, do you have anything that can clear that smokescreen?" Ashley asked.

"No, sorry," she replied, shaking her head.

"Damn, okay lets improvise. Eevee, duck in and out of the smoke using quick attack, I want everyone in that smoke in one place okay?" Eevee nodded and set off into the smoke. 5 thuds were heard, a grunt of pain following each one. A shout of 'What the hell was that!?' came from inside the smoke, before Eevee returned to Ashley. The young teen then threw out Gyarados' ball, the atrocious pokémon seemed confused by her surroundings, but decided to simply wait for orders.

"Misty does your starmie know thundershock?" She nodded, wondering how Ashley knew she had a starmie. "Good, please call it out and await my signal. Gyarados, whip your tail towards the smoke to create an air current, when you see the group inside, use Leer to freeze them in place." Gyarados, doing as she was told, whipped her tail passed the smoke, the powerful current of air created, pushed the fog away, revealing the intruders.

Ashley saw the white uniforms with the giant red 'R' on them and found herself seething with rage. No one in Kanto, was unaware of Team Rocket, they stole and exploited pokémon for profit. A horrific crime by anyone's standards but to Ashley, it was unforgivable. Team Rocket's attention was brought to the towering sea serpent like pokémon leering at them and they visibly shrunk back in fear. One of their pokémon, a koffing, was so intimidated by the creature, it released a foul smelling but most importantly, highly explosive gas from its body. An almost sinister smirk appeared on Ashley's face.

"Misty, now!" she shouted.

"Starmie, use thundershock!" the redhead ordered. Starmie carried out the order and sent the electricity towards the petrified group. It enveloped them whole and within seconds the noxious gas ignited. Ashley pulled Misty to the floor with her as she gave the order for their pokémon to retreat. The explosion that occurred seemed to rock the very earth. When the dust cleared, the 5 Team Rocket members were all unconscious and their whole bodies scorched.

A motorbike suddenly flew through the front doors and made a near miraculous stop at the reception desk, it was Officer Jenny.

"What's going on here, I received an emergency signal from this location?" Jenny called to whoever was listening.

"That was me officer, I sent the signal from my pokédex," Ashley replied. "The pokémon centre was under attack from the Team Rocket members over there, fortunately we got the jump on them and managed to apprehend them," she explained, while returning Gyarados to her ball.

Seeing who exactly had replied, Officer Jenny's attitude did a complete 180° turn. She was face to face with Ashley within moments and had her hands clasped in front of her chest. "Wow Professor, I can't believe you took on Team Rocket and won, that's so awesome!" she screamed.

"Thanks Jenny but I couldn't have done it without Misty here and I'm sure Nurse Joy has safely transferred all the pokémon by now." Misty blushed at the complement. Admittedly she had used her pokémon to finish them off but she couldn't help but feel that the girl she had come to call friend, could have handled it without her.

"Thank you for your help miss," Jenny said to Misty, "I'll take it from here."

"Jenny, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly will you do with them now?" Ashley asked.

"Not at all Professor. The pokémon will likely remain here until they have recovered, then they will be rehabilitated and either released into the wild or given to experienced trainers. As for the Team Rocket members themselves, they'll be taken to a high security ward at the hospital and treated for their wounds. We will then try and find out anything we can from them, about other Team Rocket operations. They will undoubtedly serve a jail sentence, the length of which depends on exactly how helpful they are and at what point we deem them fit to re-join society."

Ashley thanked officer Jenny for the information and left the clean-up in her capable hands. The two teens made their way to their room and when they were safely inside, Misty thought to bring up a few things that didn't quite add up, unfortunately for her however, Ashley beat her to it.

"Well I'm beat, I'm going straight to bed." She then slipped out of her clothes until she was down to her bra and panties and crawled into bed. Misty, seeing that she wouldn't be getting her answers tonight, resolved to save her questions until morning and with that, she got undressed and joined her new friend.


	3. Chapter 3: Anything but Comfortable

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

Chapter 3: Anything but Comfortable

* * *

Purple glowing eyes pierced through the dark void, they seemingly pulsed in time with her heart. A low, powerful voice could be heard calling out for her, but the words were lost in the darkness, muffled as if she was submersed in water. This continued for what felt like hours, until suddenly a much louder and shriller voice, one familiar to her dragged her from darkness…

"Ashley! Wake the hell up, you're scaring me!"

* * *

Misty was sleeping peacefully, having some rather pleasant dreams, involving a certain raven-haired trainer. That was until she was ripped from her slumber and forcefully thrown from her bed. Fortunately for her, the sofa in the professor suite broke her fall. Clearly startled by these events her eyes were wide, as she saw what was likely the cause of her abrupt awakening.

Floating, 2 feet above the bed yet laid flat as a board, Ashley was softly glowing a bright purple. Misty couldn't help but make the connection, between the colour of the other teen's eyes and the identical one now flowing from her airborne body. Refocusing on the situation at hand, she decided to wake the girl.

"Ashley…?" she asked, much too softly. Not surprisingly her initial approach did not get a response. "Ashley!" she now shouted, hoping volume would have the desired effect. Still nothing. Getting rather frightened now, she screamed her next attempt. "Ashley! Wake the hell up, you're scaring me!"

As Ashley's eyes snapped open, the glow quickly faded and she was dumped unceremoniously onto the bed, letting out a shriek as she fell. The two teens were silent for an inordinate amount of time, both trying desperately to think of a rational explanation for what happened. Finally, Misty broke the silence.

"What the hell was that?" she asked.

"No idea…" was the whispered reply. Ashley had never felt this way before. Being completely without answers was making her very uncomfortable.

"You were floating!" Misty pointed out.

"I know."

"Like, actually floating," she repeated.

"Yeah."

"2 feet in the air…"

"I know okay! I _was_ there!" Ashley snapped. Misty was taken aback by this, never had she seen Ashley lose her cool. From what she could already tell of the girl, she prided herself on always thinking things through and keeping calm and collected. Not knowing what was happening, was obviously getting to her. "I'm sorry Misty, I shouldn't take this out on you. I just always know what's going on, right now I don't and that's pretty scary."

"It's okay, you must be scared and my reaction probably didn't help. I mean you were glowing purple, that doesn't happen every day." That got Ashley's attention.

"What was that?"

"The purple glow, you were surrounded by it the whole time, right up until you fell," the redhead responded.

"Interesting, possibly some kind of psychic type attack." She paused to think. "But virtually no one knows we're in here, also psychic types have always been unable to get a reading from me." Hearing Ashley run through and rule out several possibilities, all leading back to a source of psychic energy, be it a pokémon or otherwise, Misty had a thought.

"What if it was… you?" she asked

"What do mean? What if what was me?"

"You know the psychic, what if it's you?" This stumped Ashley for a moment, if this was true it could explain a lot.

"That isn't a bad hypothesis, if I was a psychic, it would explain a lot." She stopped again to think. This was new to her, usually answers just came. "Just one problem, other psychics can't even sense me. If I in fact had latent psychic powers, I would stand out like a sore thumb. The only psychic beings that can't be sensed are those that have legendary psychic power. This is the main reason people haven't found pokémon like mew or cresselia."

"Well… you don't _look_ like a legendary pokémon," Misty joked.

"No, but I do have certain legendary _features_ ," responded the raven-haired trainer.

They both laughed at this, the tension of the earlier events all but evaporated.

* * *

The girls had got up for breakfast, Ashley had called home to check in, both had said their farewells to Nurse Joy and they were currently heading off to the entrance of Viridian Forest. It had been very quiet between the two of them and they had spent most of the morning among their thoughts. That is until Misty spoke up.

"You being a psychic, would explain how you understand your pokémon so well, it would also explain how you knew I had a starmie."

"Yeah… but me being a pokémon professor and studying up on the gym leaders before my trip, would also be a good method." Ashley said coolly.

"I guess…" Misty said, unknowingly coming clean with her identity.

"So, I was right, you are Misty Waterflower." That sent Misty reeling, shocked that she had been found out, although now that she thought about it. She really couldn't have kept it from her companion.

"I should have known you had me figured. You're far too clever for your own good, you know," was her snide retort.

"I don't know, I would say it's served me well so far." She grinned. "It's not like you made it difficult, Misty isn't exactly a common name, neither is your hair colour. You love water pokémon, as evidenced by our chat with Joy last night and when I first found you, you were fishing." She paused for a moment to let that sink in. "There was also the way you introduced yourself, I can't be too critical, you had just woken up from fainting. Still, you should have come up with a more convincing name than 'Wa-Walker'." Misty puffed her cheeks out indignantly.

"Oh yeah _Professor,_ it's not like you were completely honest with me!" she screamed. Ashley just remained calm.

"On the contrary, I was completely honest. I may not have been 100% transparent with my identity but that is reserved for those I trust completely," she said, still calmly walking alongside the increasingly angry redhead.

"I can't believe you, you walk around like your god's gift to mankind," Misty started, stepping in front of Ashley to rant and rave. "Yet you've barely started your journey. So, you saved a girl's life and _may_ have saved a pokémon centre, it's not like that makes you the best there ever was." She continued at length, edging ever closer.

Inch by inch her face approached Ashley's until they were basically nose to nose. The raven-haired teen closed the distance between them and passionately kissed her lips. Misty's eyes went wide in shock before slowly closing. They had been closed for only a second before Ashley pulled away, brushed past Misty and headed onwards.

Misty remained stuck for a few short moments, eyes still closed, unable to comprehend what just happened. Suddenly a large grin spread across her face and she ran to catch up with her friend. They threw each other a side glance and a smile before settling back into the companionable silence.

* * *

They had been walking for a while now and Ashley couldn't regret destroying her bike more. Every few steps were punctuated by another scream. Fearing a creature such as gyarados, understandable, caterpie not so much. Misty had failed to enlighten her, about her bug pokémon phobia, until just before entering the forest. Oh, how she wished she had a flying type to carry her across, and maybe go back for the noisy redhead. If there was time.

Six hours of this passed, the walking only broken up by the short break they had for lunch. The screaming however didn't stop. It was at this point that they found a suitable clearing to one, set up camp and two, get some training in for their pokémon. Misty was relieved to be out from the trees, as that surely meant fewer bugs. She wasn't very enthusiastic about staying the night but as they were over half way through, it didn't seem she had much of a choice.

Ashley thought better of calling out her gyarados in a forest full of beedrill and instead opted to train her eevee, one to one.

"Okay Eevee, we're going to be working on your speed today and maybe a new move tomorrow." Eevee seemed extremely excited at the prospect of a new move. "Now don't get ahead of yourself, we'll work on speed first, you can have all the best moves but if you can get in a good position to use them or if you take too many hits as you're unable to dodge, then what use will they be." Eevee seemed a bit downtrodden by this but Ashley sought to cheer her up. "You already have moves well beyond the average Eevee of your age. You have Tackle, Quick Attack, Growl, Tail Whip and your egg move, yawn. In the time we have known each other, you have worked so hard to master them. Not to mention the work you did before meeting me."

This had the desired effect and Eevee significantly perked up. "See I told you, you were awesome and when am I ever wrong," Ashley added, sending a cheery wink in Eevee's direction. "Now, to improve your speed, we'll have you doing 50m sprints. Research suggests that it would be beneficial to take a 1 minute rest for every 10m, so following each run, you'll have a 5 minute break." Eevee cocked her head in confusion. "5 minutes may seem excessive but we'll be at this for a couple of hours," Her happy smile turned slightly sadistic, "you'll be plenty tired by the end of it." This unnerved the poor evolution pokémon.

* * *

2 and a half hours later Eevee had just finished her training and was exhausted. In an attempt to prove her trainer wrong, she decided to train that little bit longer, but she was suffering for it now.

"You're regretting it now, aren't you?" It was more of a statement than a question. The raven-haired trainer had encouraged her to stop after the 2 hour mark but Eevee insisted on going the extra mile. The fox-like pokémon merely turned her nose up in indignation. Internally however, she winced at the accuracy of her trainer's judgement. Ashley just smiled picked up the not so offended pokémon and placed her in her lap. She then removed a brush from her bag and Eevee's eyes practically sparkled at the sight of it. She may be fairly laid back as far as her species is concerned but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy a good grooming.

The soft brush made contact with her coat and immediately she was humming in content. As it made its way all over her body, she could feel the heavy strain from the training, slowly melting away. So relaxed was she, that only a few moments passed before Ashley heard a small snuffling coming from the little creature. 'Out like a light,' she thought to herself.

The trainer placed Eevee at the foot of her sleeping bag, herself and Misty had prepared camp whilst Eevee trained. After ensuring her starter pokémon was comfortable, she climbed into her bed for the night and stared up at the endless expanse of space. Despite her playful demeanour and her apparent happiness, Ashley was a mess inside, anxiety wracked her mind as she new sleep was fast approaching. She both did and didn't want it to come, her scientific curiosity needed to understand the dream she had. Her fear however was holding her back, whatever was happening to her was unknown and that was anything but comfortable.

Eventually, sleep claimed her and she instantly found herself in the same dark world. The first thing she noticed was the distinct lack of, glowing, purple eyes. She could hear the same muffled voice and it was noticeably clearer. Not so clear that she could make out everything but she heard a few jumbled words. 'Sister', 'Experiment' and 'Rocket' was all she managed to work out.

* * *

When morning eventually came, Ashley was more confused than ever, the similar experience had left her slightly baffled. The dream from the previous morning had been almost angry in nature. It didn't feel directed towards her but the voice was definitely angry. Maybe Misty not being so close was the difference but for the life of her she couldn't work out why.

Deciding to put that to rest for now, she got up and began stretching out her body, sleeping on the hard ground didn't agree with her. She first stretched her arms up over her head and then she leaned all the way forward until her fingers touched her toes.

This was the sight Misty woke up to, a half naked Ashley bending over in front of her, was preferable to her last wake up call.

"Morning Misty, enjoying the view?" Ashley asked. So entranced by the enticing view, she nearly missed that. Once again, she was caught peeking.

'One of these days, I'll get you Ketchum,' she thought, now blushing furiously in frustration and arousal, in equal parts. Seeing her cohort unable to respond, at least out loud, Ashley made to get properly dressed. Once this was accomplished, she began packing up camp with the recently recovered Misty.

When camp was all packed up, Ashley recalled the still sleeping Eevee into her luxury ball, she worked extremely hard yesterday and deserved the extra rest. With that, the two were back on the road. The walking far from soothed their worries, it in fact sent jolts of displeasure through both of their psyches. Misty due to the fear associated with the forest's native pokémon and Ashley due to the ridiculous screaming this fear resulted in. Needless to say, they each wanted out of the forest, as quickly as possible.

* * *

A couple of hours in and Misty's screaming had been endless, Ashley was far too tempted to call gyarados out and give her something to really scream about. She didn't do so however, as she noticed a small amount of movement from the bushes, they were about to pass. Bug pokémon were known to be incredibly adept at moving unnoticed in their natural habitat, they couldn't risk alerting a hungry pidgey or spearow, this therefore was a little concerning. Choosing to continue onwards but remain ready for anything, she made to pass the bushes, putting herself between them and Misty, just in case.

Her readiness and her incredible reflexes, saw her jumping away from the figure that had abruptly leapt from the shrubbery, wielding some kind of weapon. It was within a split second that she assessed the danger. The attacker was a short boy around their age, his most notable feature being the samurai style armour that adorned his frame. From what she could see of his physique, it was apparent that he hadn't trained physically and his stance suggested his inexperience in wielding a blade. All in all, not too much of a threat, provided he doesn't get a lucky hit in with that sword.

This analysis, having taken less than a second for her, allowed her to see many glaring flaws in his stance. Picking one, she decided to act.

The attacker, having missed with his first strike, a downward swing, had overextended and was currently relying almost entirely on his front leg to remain upright. Ashley seeing the opportunity, ducked into a low spin and extended one leg, which she used to sweep his own from under him. He crashed to the floor noisily, due to the armour and had lost his sword on the way down. Now flat on his back and unarmed, the minimal threat that he had posed, was now non-existent.

Placing the sole of her white high-top trainer onto the flat of the blade and leaning into her assailant's view, Ashley spoke up for the first time. "Who are you and why are you attacking us?" Her voice colder than ever before. Ashley hadn't had many friends but she was fiercely protective of those she had. Anyone stupid enough to threaten them, directly or otherwise, would surely pay.

The samurai, having had the wind thoroughly knocked from his lungs; upon contact with the ground, took a little too long to answer. This, coupled with a vacant stare, was enough to get Ashley further riled up. A swift kick to the torso seemed to help, it wouldn't have hurt due to the armour but it successfully brought him out of his daze.

"I'll only ask this once more, who are you and why did you attack us?" Ashley basically growled out.

"My name is samurai and I meant you no harm, I simply wish to challenge you to a pokémon battle," the boy said. Ashley was incensed by his answer.

"Seriously?!" she yelled. "Are you mentally challenged? What kind of imbecilic oaf challenges someone to a pokémon battle, by jumping from the bushes and swinging a sword?" The question was rhetorical, not needing an answer, she continued her rant. "I could have been anyone! If I was so inclined, I could have run you through with your own sword, before you knew what happened." Seeing him pale at that particular idea, she pressed home her point. "Some people wouldn't have hesitated to do just that. You are aware Team Rocket are operating in this area, right? What do you think they would have done?" By this point, his previously pale face, had lost all colour. A small pause ensued before she spoke again. "I'll give you your battle, on one condition, you stop this idiotic method of challenging opponents. Agreed?" she asked.

Following his nod, she held a hand out to him, he grasped it and she pulled him to his feet with surprising ease. Ashley asked the would-be samurai, if he knew of a location suitable. Replying in the positive, he led her away.

Misty had been reduced to a mere observer during the whole altercation, she hadn't even had time to scream before the threat had passed and their attacker was left flat on his back, at the hands of her new friend. Ironic really, the only legitimately scary thing to happen in this forest and she hadn't screamed. Realising they were now leaving her behind, to go battle, she rushed after them.

* * *

The boy led the two girls to a sizeable clearing, he left them on one side as he made his way to the other. Ashley gave him an expectant look, it was his challenge, it only seemed appropriate that he decides the terms.

"What is your name trainer? I wish to know the identity of whom I will so thoroughly crush," proclaimed the samurai from across the open space. Ashley wasn't sure whether to be offended he thought her so easy to handle or impressed that he could maintain that level of confidence, following the ass kicking he just received. She simply settled for answering his question.

"Ashley Ketchum from Pallet Town, what's your name?"

"My name is Samurai," he replied.

'Wow, original,' Ashley mused.

"I have been expecting you, trainer from Pallet Town. I met a truly gifted battler just two hours ago, he destroyed by pokémon with amazing efficiency. He also hailed from Pallet Town and said I should be expecting a girl to pass through here at some point. He also said I will have no problem beating her."

"I see you already met Gary," she said. 'He must have travelled through the night, just to get ahead.' Shaking her head at the thought of her so-called rival, she continued. "You would do well not to believe everything you hear. What are your terms?"

"A two on two battle, no substitutions," he replied.

Nodding at this, Ashley asked Misty if she would referee, to which she agreed. "The trainers know the terms, please release your first pokémon," she called.

Ashley, not wanting to level the surrounding forest in this battle, called forth her eevee. Her opponent released a pinsir. The bug like pokémon let out a battle cry as it coalesced from the white energy. Ashley immediately noticed the lack of any shine from its brown exoskeleton, a sure sign that it wasn't getting the right nutrients, this in turn meant it would likely lack the strength and speed of others of its species.

"Battle, begin!" Misty called.

"Okay Eevee, start this off with Quick Attack, then into Tail Whip from behind." As she went about her orders, Pinsir was receiving some of his own.

"Pinsir, turn around and use vice grip" Samurai called out. Eevee being the much quicker of the two managed to get behind the pincer pokémon, attack with her tail and retreat before her opponent could retaliate. The Tail Whip had done its job, by not only lowering the pokémon's defence but also knocking it off balance.

Ashley, looking to capitalise on this, gave her next orders. "Great work, now Quick Attack to the back of the knee!" The attack hit home and sent the stag beetle pokémon to its knees. Eevee bounced off the back of it's leg and landed gracefully behind it. Samurai was screaming at his pokémon to get to its feet, to no avail. In the meantime, Ashley was looking to end this round. "Okay Eevee, now tackle attack to the back of his head."

Eevee executed the order perfectly and Pinsir was forced to the ground, its face colliding heavily with the dirt. When the dust had settled, it revealed an ever so slightly winded Eevee and a now unconscious Pinsir.

"Pinsir is unable to battle, please send out your last pokémon," the referee, Misty declared. Samurai called back his pinsir with a few words of gratitude. He then sent out his final pokémon. The white energy released from the pokéball, formed into a small cocoon shaped creature, otherwise known as a metapod. Ashley once again assessed the pokémon and concluded that it was recently caught. This meant it likely only knew one move, Harden. Not a particularly frightening prospect, but with Eevee having already battled, she may not last in a fight of attrition.

"Begin!" Misty shouted.

"Eevee use Yawn!"

"Harden!"

Ashley's command came first and was carried out quickly by the little evolution pokémon. Due to the nature of the move however, Metapod managed to get the defence boost from Harden before falling asleep completely.

"Now, repeated Tail Whips, until it wakes up." Eevee was seen jumping around the cocoon pokémon attacking with its tail and lowering its defence on every bound. Samurai was again reduced to simply yelling at his pokémon, this time to wake up.

Ashley saw the smallest hint of movement from Metapod and chose to act. "Quick Attack, now!"

Her opposition had missed that small detail and therefore his opportunity to defend. The result was a now severely worn out Eevee and a yet again unmoving Metapod, however this time he was unconscious for a whole different reason.

"Metapod is unable to battle, Eevee wins both rounds and Ashley Ketchum wins the battle." And like that, the match was over. Misty was very impressed by the new trainer, although she had come to expect the unexpected when she was concerned. For the first time since leaving home, the redhead was genuinely excited at the thought of going back, if only to have an official gym battle with someone so talented. Maybe if she could show her sisters a great battle, they would start taking their duties seriously, she could only hope.

The competitors met in the middle of the clearing, Samurai had returned his metapod and Eevee had made her way to Ashley's shoulder.

"That was a truly great battle! You defeated me effortlessly, without conceding a single hit. I am truly honoured to have battled you," Samurai said sincerely. If nothing else he really took defeat well. "You have proven me the amateur, me and my pokémon will train harder than ever, I hope someday we can battle again."

"I would like that, be sure to become strong and I'll gladly battle again, when we next meet." Pulling out a piece of paper she continued. "I happen to be a bit of an expert in pokémon nutrition," she thought best to leave out the professor part, "here is a number of recipes that, alongside some rigorous training, will make your bug pokémon a lot stronger. The ingredients can all be found in this forest." Whilst talking she was furiously scribbling down the details of a few recipes. She then handed him the paper and bid him farewell. The pair then turned to leave as the young samurai waved and called out his goodbyes, until they were lost amongst the shrubbery once more.

* * *

Relief washed over the travellers as they finally entered Pewter City. Gone were the endless bushes and trees, gone were the repeated encounters with bug pokémon and gone were the incessant screams that came with each sighting. Their bodies were tired and their nerves were frayed, they just wanted to find the pokémon centre and get a good night's rest.

It wasn't too long before the two reached their destination, Ashley remembered almost everything she had ever seen, heard, thought, even felt. Memorising the map of the entire Kanto region was child's play.

The pair entered the pokémon centre, Eevee still riding Ashley's shoulder. Ashley asked the resident Nurse Joy if she would take care of their pokémon. She obviously was more than happy to accept. Leaving Eevee and Gyarados in her capable hands Ashley led Misty to the professor suite, where they both got showers, finally cleansing their bodies of the stress and grime from their travels.

It was with weary eyes that they each said their goodnights and fell soundly to sleep, once again sharing the same double bed.

* * *

The voice in Ashley's dreams had once again taken a more violent turn, seemingly screaming at her. She caught a few more words such as, 'Disgusting', 'Humans', 'Superior' and 'Pokémon', the voice was becoming clearer each night, as if whatever had shrouded it was slowly retreating.

Thankfully, despite the speaker's apparent anger, nothing physical had occurred during the night and Misty was undisturbed. She didn't know enough to come to any concrete conclusion but the voice's emotional state seemed to change with her proximity to Misty. She would only be able to say for sure, as they continued to travel together.

Bringing herself back to the here and now, Ashley found herself looking at the doors to the Pewter City Gym. She didn't think herself ready and had instead opted to train her pokémon, she merely stopped by on her way out of the city.

"You ready?" asked her redheaded friend. She had asked Misty to accompany her to train, this way Gyarados would have an easier time learning the water type moves, she so sorely needed. Ashley could of course teach her herself but a bit of pokémon to pokémon tuition could work wonders.

"Yeah, let's go. There's a small river on the other side of those hills." After pausing for just a second more, to look at venue of her first real test as a trainer, Ashley started towards their temporary training grounds.

It didn't take too long to reach their destination and were soon releasing all their pokémon. Misty released her staryu, starmie and goldeen and informed them they were here to train. While Ashley released her gyarados, Eevee left her perch on her trainer's shoulder and made to greet the pokémon she hadn't yet met. Gyarados was happy to be released into water for the first time in what felt like forever. She roared skywards upon her release and then lowered her head to rub her massive cheek against her trainer's body. Ashley found herself giggling at the interaction, clearly enjoying the loyalty and devotion her recent capture displayed at any opportunity.

"I missed you too girl, now how about we get some training done? We'll need to work extra hard to make you the strongest gyarados," the raven-haired girl suggested. Gyarados grunted in affirmation and awaited her instructions. "Great, now for today I want you to work with Misty's pokémon, they are going to help you manifest the water required to attack. When you have that down we'll have you learn Aqua Tail. Sound good?" She received another skyward roar from the atrocious pokémon, obviously she was eager to get stronger.

Misty having already explained their roles, sent her team off with Gyarados, they were going to help while hopefully further perfecting their own moves. Ashley meanwhile was talking Eevee through their training for the day.

"Today, we'll have you learning a new move. I think Swift is our best option at the moment, considering your lack of long range moves. We won't be able to immobilize the quicker opponents with Yawn, and Swift is a perfect move to track their movements. Depending on your progress today we may move onto Refresh, this will be a massive help when battling those who rely on status effects." Eevee yipped in a mixture of agreement and excitement. She wanted to grow strong for her trainer but more so than that, she wanted to become strong for herself. Everyone then got to work.

* * *

The morning went by quickly, Ashley having unintendedly left herself with very little to do, spent a lot of it pondering her current situation. Both her pokémon were currently learning the basics of energy manipulation and being human, she didn't have the qualities necessary to help them. This was something that every pokémon had to tackle at some point and would only be able to do so, with the aid of other pokémon. That didn't mean she neglected her duty to offer encouragement where possible and supply a healthy and nutritious lunch, when the time came.

Gyarados had made quick progress in forming water outside of her body and was now working on turning that water into ice. This was necessary for the move Ice Fang, which she was hoping to learn alongside Aqua Tail. Ashley had no problem with this, she had planned to work that move into the training over the next few days anyway. Seeing her pokémon showing her initiative, pleased her greatly.

Eevee was having a harder time forming any energy outside of her body, being a normal type pokémon, she wasn't innately tuned to a certain energy type. This made learning this skill all the more difficult but once mastered, it would aid her in learning other energy based moves.

After breaking for a lunch designed to revitalize, the pokémon returned to their work. Ashley noticed the ice forming around Gyarados' mouth and couldn't be prouder of the hard work her first capture was putting in. It was far from a battle-ready Ice Fang but it was still remarkable progress. At Ashley's instruction Gyarados was alternating between trying Ice Fang and Aqua Tail. The latter being far more developed at this stage. This training method had the added benefit of teaching the pokémon to switch between move types rapidly in battle, a skill that many trainers neglected.

Eevee was no less enthusiastic about her training but sadly had made far less progress. She had only been able to form a very small mass of unstable energy. This often sparked out of existence, far faster than it appeared. She would have quickly become downhearted, if it weren't for her trainer's support.

Ashley took this opportunity to discuss her situation with Misty and propose an experiment. She described her dreams in greater detail and explained the change in emotion the voice displayed. She suggested they camp out at the river for tonight but sleep close together. There were too many variables and staying inside and outside of the pokémon centre was one of them. By adding Misty into the mix, it would give her a clearer picture as to what may affect the mysterious voice's mood. Misty quickly agreed, not needing a reason to get closer to the alluring Professor Ketchum.

* * *

The rest of the day went by in a flash and Ashley was extremely happy with her two pokémon. They had surpassed her expectations and she suspected that after another full day of training, Gyarados would be ready for the gym battle ahead. It was now time for bed and Ashley was preparing her experiment.

"I want you as close as possible tonight," she said while undressing. For her plan to have the most reliable results, they had opened their sleeping bags and had one on top of the other. This would simulate the shared double bed situation at the centre, while also exposing them to nature, like two nights previous. Misty gulped as Ashley removed her dungarees. She had slept next to her twice now but neither time had she an open invitation to get as close as possible. "Well, aren't you going to get ready for bed?" Misty had been stood beside the sleeping bags, silently admiring the figure her companion possessed. Snapping out of her daze, she undressed in a flash and disappeared under the top cover. Ashley followed soon after, shifting closer and closer to the redhead.

Misty could feel the professor approaching her from behind and was trying to calm herself down, this was an experiment and would, under no circumstances, lead to anything else. She was startled from this thought by a slender arm, wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer. She didn't fight the girl pulling her into the position of little spoon. Her heart was beating heavily in her chest and her palms were sweaty as their nearly naked bodies meshed together.

"Goodnight Misty," Ashely said, before planting a feather light kiss to the back of Misty's neck. She smirked as she heard a faint moan leave her companion's lips.

'It really is a good night,' Misty thought.


	4. Chapter 4: Anything but Human(e)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

Chapter 4: Anything but Human(e)

* * *

Another hard day training had come and gone and Ashley was now resting back at the pokémon centre, alone, in the professor's suite. Her pokémon had made great progress, despite the lack of help this time, Gyarados had mastered Aqua Tail and had a slightly better grasp of Ice Fang. Eevee very nearly had Swift down, she could form the energy stars and could fire them at her opponent, what she couldn't do however, was get them to track their objective.

'All in good time,' Ashley thought. She was ready for her gym battle tomorrow and that was great but her mind was elsewhere. Her dreams had taken a rather different turn the previous night, for the first time in her life, was really scared.

* * *

Ashley found herself surrounded by darkness once again, she was busy musing over how familiar this was becoming, when a still shrouded figure appeared in front of her. The piercing purple eyes she recognised from her first dream adorned what appeared to be the being's face. From what she could tell, the figure stood on two legs and had two arms but was far from human in shape.

'A pokémon?' She thought to herself.

' _Yes, a pokémon and what are you exactly?_ ' Ashley, shocked by the crystal-clear reply, from a pokémon no less, couldn't answer. ' _You appear human and yet you aren't… Answer me! What are you?!'_ the now shouting pokémon asked, its eyes glowing brighter with its impatience.

The teen, finally regaining a semblance of composure, spoke. "What do you mean, not human, of course I am." The pokémon snorted derisively.

' _So, you know not, what you are? I have seen your thoughts, your feelings and your memories. There are empty spaces, some which even I cannot reach but I have seen enough. You are not of human birth; your so-called mother will attest to that.'_ Ashley didn't know what to make of this speech. It, who or whatever, it was, was obviously lying… right?! Of course, she _was_ her mother, how could she not be.

The more she thought about it, the more evidence surfaced in favour of the stranger's claims. Her features differed greatly from her mother's. Her eyes, a different colour. Her hair, a different colour. Heck, even her skin was a different colour, she was always more tanned than Delia… No, her mum.

All of these differences, were always attributed to her long-lost father but it hardly seemed likely that she would inherit only _his_ looks. That thought only further confirmed it, never had she seen a picture of her dad, they were apparently too painful to keep. When she had asked about him at a very young age, Delia had told her that he had died, before her birth. Ashley had never been convinced by this, being the extremely astute person, she was, the teen knew that no one could say such a thing and show little to no emotion. It was almost easy for her mother to say… Like a well-rehearsed lie.

Everything was starting to make sense and yet it was tearing her apart at the seams. She was a lie, everything she had known, was a lie. What use was all the knowledge in the world, if you didn't even know who you were.

 _'We are the same you know…'_ the figure started. _'I to didn't know who I was or what my purpose was,'_ it said, as if reading her mind. Which in all likelihood, it probably was. _'I wasn't born to this earth, I was created, created to be little more than somebody's plaything. These humans you associate with, have done nothing but lie and steal from us. They take everything from us, our freedom, our knowledge, our power. Yet they give nothing in return.'_

"But I am human! Look at me, I'm human!" Ashley screamed, trying to convince herself still, that this was all a ruse.

 _'You may look human but you are no more human than I am. In fact, we share so much in common, it would make more sense to call you sister.'_ The figure laughed half-heartedly at this. _'So,_ sister _, I have a proposition for you. Join me and together we can rule this planet. Humans and pokémon alike will kneel before us. You see, this is our purpose, our reason for existing. We were created to rule, now… Will you join me?'_ A few silent moments passed before her answer came.

"No." The figure seemed confused by this at first, then confusion turned to anger.

 _'What do you mean, no?! Are you blind, can't you see what they have done?! They have lied to you, your entire life, reaping the benefits of your superior intellect. Using you, to make contraptions that steal the freedom of others, forcing them to battle. Why don't you see them for what they are, vile despicable creatures?!'_

"You're wrong!" Ashley shouted, effectively halting the tirade. "They are not perfect but until just recently, I was one of them. I have captured a pokémon and I have had it battle but me and Gyarados are now a team. She enjoys training and battling alongside me, as I'm sure many others do, with their trainers. You're wrong about us… them… whatever, would vile creatures take in a child that was not their own and raise them with all the love and care they could provide? You said you have seen my memories, that means you have seen how, the woman I call mother, has treated me. Answer me this, is she vile?"

The still hidden pokémon, could only answer with silence. Delia Ketchum was a saint, no one, no matter how angry or upset, could call her vile. Ashley continued. "There exists both good and evil, in this world. You may have seen more evil than necessary but just looking through my memories, should have shown you enough good to see that. I am sorry for what humanity has done to you but I will not join you," she finished.

 _'You say so now but when they come to realise what you are… Well, you'll see. Oh, and your little friend might not be so happy, when you wake up.'_ It snorted once again.

"What have you don't to Misty?" Ashley growled out.

 _'Nothing serious, I saw a water pokémon trainer and I saw a river. I thought she might like to go swimming.'_ Seeing the pokémon raise a hand as if to click its fingers, the teen shouted.

"Wait!" It stopped. "One more question," seeing the creature nod, she continued. "Do you know who I am?" she asked earnestly. The creature's body language turned almost solemn at that.

 _'I do not, but there are those that do. Seek out Team Rocket and ask of "Subject 5", only the higher-ups will know of it however,'_ it said, followed closely by a snap of its fingers.

With that, Ashley started to wake up. She was just in time to hear a shrill scream and a splash. When she turned to the direction, from which it came, she saw Misty now wide awake and treading water in the calm river. The redhead then screamed towards the shore.

"No more! I'm through with this Ashley Ketchum!" She then removed herself from the river, put on some clothes, packed up her things and left in the direction of Cerulean City. Ashley could only blankly stare after her, as she stormed away. She had more to worry about than the bad-tempered teen. She apparently wasn't human, as hard as it was to believe. She however, knew it was true, she had never seen it before but the evidence of her adoption was staring her right in the face. She wasn't angry at her mother, a woman who took in a child, in need of a home. The teen did have many questions though but not the foggiest idea, how to approach her with them. Knowing she couldn't do so in her usual brash manner, she decided to concentrate on something else, mainly training and her upcoming gym battle. Hopefully the answer would come.

* * *

It hadn't done so yet. Laying face up on the bed fully clothed, Ashley had far too much to think about, to even consider sleeping right now. She was stopped from thinking too deeply however, when there was a knock at the door.

"Ashley, I have your pokémon here." Came the sweet-sounding voice of the Pewter City Nurse Joy. Standing from her bed, the teen approached and opened the door, before turning around again.

"Thanks Joy, just put them over there for me please," she said, pointing to the bedside table.

"Is everything okay Ashley, you haven't been yourself today," the nurse asked. She, like the Viridian City Nurse Joy, had known Ashley most of her life. Being the youngest, of the Kanto branch of the Joy family, she was one of the few people Ashley could call friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about my gym battle, that's all," she lied.

"You know for someone so talented at, well, everything, you're a terrible liar. Now tell me what's wrong."

"Okay, you caught me but it's not really something I want to talk about. Can't we talk about anything else?" the young girl pleaded.

"Sure, I've just closed up for the night anyway, so why don't we chat. It'll be just like old times," Joy said, a little too excited. Ashley put this down to her not getting out much. The life of a pokémon nurse was a pretty lonely one, yes you meet new people every day, but they never stick around for long.

"I'd like that," the teen said, sitting down on the bed, placing her back against the headboard.

"So, what happened to your friend from this morning, I figured she'd be with you when you came back?" the nurse asked. Ashley winced before answering.

"Yeah, she went home, I think. We had a _falling_ out."

"Oh, that's too bad. Were you good friends?" Joy asked, now sitting alongside the raven-haired trainer. A bit closer than usual.

"Not really, we only met a-" Was all Ashley managed before she was cut off. Nurse Joy having heard enough, took the opportunity to place her lips against those of her old friend. Ashley was shocked into unresponsiveness, why was this suddenly happening? Joy had never shown any interest before. The nurse, having not felt any reaction from Ashley, pulled back.

"Sorry Ashley, I shouldn't have done that, I saw you with that girl and I thought… Well, I thought you may have liked that kind of thing." She felt completely humiliated by the rejection. Getting up to leave, she was stopped by a hand firmly grasping her wrist. She turned around to see Ashley looking back at her with an unfamiliar gaze, quick as a flash, she was pulled back down to the bed and brought into a searing hot kiss.

Ashley now completely cognisant, was fully enjoying the feel of Joys lips against her own. They were the softest lips she had felt so far. Rolling over, she placed the nurse between her body and the bed, as they continued their heated make out session.

Nurse Joy was in heaven right now, she had been crushing on the pokémon professor for so long, she just never had the courage to say. Seeing her with another girl and assuming the worst, pushed her to act and boy, was she glad she did. She knew full well a relationship wasn't ever on the cards, considering the future ahead of each of them but she could at least enjoy this night.

Ashley, seeing where this may be heading, stopped the kiss briefly, to ask. "Joy, are you sure you want this?"

"Yes!" she almost shouted, before lowering her voice. "More than anything."

"Okay, one more question, have you ever done anything like this before?" She got a negative shake of the head.

"You just took my first kiss. But I really do want this, you'll no doubt be leaving tomorrow and I didn't want to miss the chance." That was all Ashley needed, she leant forwards again, reclaiming the soft, supple lips that were Nurse Joy's. Her hands moved to the tie in Joy's apron, before pulling it loose and helping the nurse remove it. She then went to work removing her signature pink dress, undoing the front buttons, one by one. All the while, keeping up the steamy lip service.

* * *

Ashley stood staring at the huge doors, between her and the first challenge of her pokémon journey. She loved experiencing new things and as her first gym battle, this was a particularly exciting one. Her experience with Nurse Joy, had successfully taken her mind off recent events and it was with the ability to think clearly, that she confidently stepped into the Pewter City Gym.

It was pitch dark at first but her eyes adjusted quickly. Hidden in the darkness, was a young man, around 20 years old. He called out in a loud and powerful voice.

"State your name and business here," he said.

"Ashley Ketchum, here to battle Brock Harrison, for the Boulderbadge," the teen replied confidently.

The blindingly bright lights flashed on, illuminating the large, open room. Brock now able to see the incredibly attractive young girl before him, had to control himself. He was an incredibly flirtatious man and despite her young age, Ashley would certainly appeal to most men.

"I accept your challenge, it'll be a 2 on 2 battle, where only the challenger may substitute," the gym leader stated. Ashley nodded at the terms of battle and took her place in the challenger box. As she did, the field began to transform. The previously plain battlefield opened up to reveal a rocky terrain. When the transition was over, a boy around her age, carrying two flags, took up his place in the referee's box.

"Gym leader Brock, please release your pokémon," He shouted as he raised the flag on that side. Brock then threw out his pokéball and from it came a show of white light, said light then faded to reveal a small spherical pokémon with two arms. It's body completely made of rock, Ashley instantly recognised it as a geodude. It confirmed this, by calling out its name as it readied itself for battle. "Challenger Ashley Ketchum, please release your pokémon," he called once more, both flags now raised. The raven-haired teen did so, throwing out the blue and white ball and from it came a towering, blue sea serpent.

Gyarados roared to the heavens upon her release, causing Geodude to lose not only his composure but also some attack power. Gyarados' ability, intimidate, having the desired effect. Brock looked on in disbelief, as a trainer carrying only 2 pokéballs, sent out one of the most fearsome pokémon, Kanto has to offer.

"Begin!" the younger male shouted, effectively bringing the elder out of his stupor. Ashley, having never lost her focus, was the first to issue a command.

"Gyarados use Leer, follow up with Aqua Tail." Gyarados carried out its command flawlessly. The Leer attack further froze Geodude in place, as well as lowering its defence. Brock's shout to dodge, remained unheard, as it was batted across the battlefield by a water wreathed tail. Colliding hard with the ground, Geodude was dazed and disorientated, not one to let an opportunity go to waste, Ashley acted once more.

"Use Dragon Rage." Gyarados built up a swell of purple energy at the back of its throat, before releasing it all in a focused stream of draconic power. Unable to dodge and too dazed to defend, Geodude took the full brunt of the attack. When the dust settled it was revealed to be completely knocked out. Confusion spread through Ashley, as the referee hadn't called it. That was until she saw the face of both the males. Dumbstruck, would describe it best. Clearing her throat loudly, had the effect of bringing them to their senses, albeit barely.

"Geodude is unable to battle…" the younger boy drawled out. "Gyarados is the winner. Gym leader, please reveal your last pokémon." Brock was shocked by the result but was nonetheless confident that if he became serious, his next pokémon could salvage this battle. He recalled his geodude and sent out another rock type pokémon. From the pokéball emerged a creature, similar in shape to Gyarados but whose body was made entirely of rock. The onix stood tall as it roared its name. Ashley recognised the behaviour as a territorial display. Apparently Onix believed this battlefield to be his territory and wouldn't tolerate an unfamiliar presence. The eyes of the two pokémon met and each of their bodies took on a more aggressive stance. They were ready, as were the trainers.

"Battle, begin!"

Taking the initiative in this battle Brock called out his first order. "Rock Throw, Onix." The pokémon slammed its tail into the boulder ridden terrain, sending a shower of rocks towards its opponent. Rock type pokémon could of cause manipulate the rocks using their power and some more powerful pokémon, could form rocks from their own energy. Brock however, had designed his field so that a multitude of attacks could be used, without draining the pokémon's reserves.

"Dragon Rage," Ashley called out calmly. The order came shortly after Brock's own and the draconic attack, neutralised the incoming rocks. "Now get in close, Aqua Tail!" Gyarados got in close and used her immense water wrapped tail to smash into Onix. Unfortunately, just before said attack landed, Brock had called out his own command. Onix just had time to activate bide before receiving the Aqua Tail.

Ashley, seeing the threat decided to end this as quickly as possible and hope that it was enough. "Gyarados use Bite!" Bite might sound like a strange attack to use against a rock pokémon, as they are resistant to physical attacks but what made bite slightly different, is its typing. Bite was a dark type move so the damage caused was only slightly reduced. It wasn't Ashley's only plan though. "Now, Ice Fang!" Gyarados' jaws were firmly wrapped around Onix's bulky body at this point so even the imperfect Ice Fang, she was able to produce, caused immense pain. Onix's body glowed a bright red before he released the stored energy from Bide. It collided heavily with Gyarados and managed to separate them, as a cloud of dust was thrown up.

When the dust settled it revealed a heavily panting Onix and a slowly rising Gyarados. When she had fully recovered she glared fiercely at the pokémon opposite her. Neither trainer wanted to give an order, knowing full well their pokémon would struggle to complete it. A silence had enshrouded the battlefield as they all awaited the inevitable end.

It was Onix who fell first, closely followed by Gyarados. Ashley had won and as if confirming that fact, the referee made his call.

"Both pokémon are unable to battle, as the gym leader is out of usable pokémon, the challenger, Ashley Ketchum wins." Both trainers then recalled their pokémon, each muttering a few words of gratitude, before meeting in the middle.

"That was a great battle, I underestimated you and I paid the price," Brock admitted unashamedly.

"It really was, your pokémon are very strong, not every onix could take out a gyarados. Even if defeated in the process."

"I try to raise my pokémon as best I can but it looks like we can still improve. Here, this belongs to you now." Brock extended his hand and opened it to reveal a small, grey, octangular badge. "I hereby present you with the Boulderbadge, I want you to have this to," he said, pulling a small disc like object from his vest pocket. "This TM contains Rock Throw. It may come in handy somewhere down the line."

Ashley accepted both items gratefully, before saying, "Brock, I can tell you take great care of your pokémon, I can't help but feel you would be more suited to a career in pokémon breeding, is it something you've ever considered." Brock simply chuckled, confusing Ashley for what felt like the 1000th time recently.

"Have I considered it? It's damn near all I have thought about, since I saw my first pokémon. It's my dream but I can't follow it right now." He looked slightly downtrodden at this admission. Ashley silently studied the boy before an image flashed through her mind. In it, Brock was surrounded by 9 younger kids, all of whom sharing a striking resemblance to the young man himself. Brock was at the heart of the small group, as they clambered over him asking for help with various things, such as homework and a torn dress that needed repairing.

"You can't leave them," Ashley said before looking up to the balcony that overlooked the battlefield. There she saw 8 of the 9 kids, the last one had refereed the match just moments ago. "Where are their parents?" she asked lowly.

Brock was initially shocked that she had caught on so quickly but he then spotted his family and thought the situation to be fairly self-explanatory, if you were smart enough to pick up on it.

"No, I can't just leave, they need me, Dad is out on his own journey right now and I don't know where our mother is…" he said solemnly. "But I know they'll come back one day and that's when I'll start my own journey, one where I'll aim, to be the world's greatest breeder," he finished with a renewed determination.

"I look forward to hearing all about it one day, I better be going now." She turned to leave before adding, "be sure to look me up when you're on the road. Having an aspiring breeder like yourself around, would be very helpful," she said sincerely, before throwing him a wave over her shoulder.

Brock seemed to read into the situation a bit too much and immediately ran after her. What was he thinking? His job as a gym leader was done for the day and before him stood a beautiful girl. He stopped in front of her and took her hand in his, before proclaiming in a Shakespearian voice, "Oh fair maiden, our battle has shown me that our destinies are intertwined. I will follow you around the world just as soon as my parents come back. Will you wait for me?" Ashley could only blink in shock, as the previously professional gym leader of around 20 years, would so casually flirt with her. It was then that Brock's younger brother Forrest, the referee, intervened.

"That's quite enough Brock, you're scaring the poor girl," he said putting a hand on his shoulder. "She obviously isn't interested, not to mention, she is a bit young for you." Ashley was relieved as Brock removed his hands from hers but she then noticed the defeated look on his face and thought to throw him a lifeline.

"I'm flattered Brock, really. It isn't you or your age, I've been with a few people older than me. You just lack, certain biological characteristics, I look for in a partner," she finished, gesturing to her already well-developed chest. She then walked past the dumbstruck boys and headed for the exit.

The brothers looked to each other. "You don't think…" Brock managed to say.

"I think so…" Forrest replied.

"Nooooooooooo!" Brock screamed hysterically.

* * *

Ashley was making her way to Mt Moon, a trip she estimated would take a day or so. She had gotten Gyarados healed at the pokémon centre, shared a heartfelt goodbye with Nurse Joy and headed out. Her plan for the day was to reach the half way mark toward the notorious mountain and settle down for some training. If she found any pokémon worth catching on the way, she would certainly consider it, her team wasn't the most balanced. The raven-haired trainer had a powerhouse in Gyarados and a small hit and run type battler in Eevee. The small evolution pokémon was currently sat atop her favourite perch.

"What's going on with me girl?" Ashley asked, not really expecting an answer.

Eevee simply released a sombre mew, she could feel her trainer's depression and knowing she could do nothing to alleviate her of it, really saddened her.

"What was that I saw, when talking to Brock, I've never experience something like that before. It was clearly a vision, a vision of something I had no right knowing. I just met the guy. Good job his siblings were there, he must have figured I worked it out. I have to get to the bottom of this, I need to find someone high enough up the Team Rocket food chain and ask them about 'Subject 5', whatever that is." Ashley had of course considered talking to her mother about this but unless she could do so in person, she didn't want to. Her mother may misunderstand her curiosity for answers. She needed to be there with her, to ensure her mother knew how grateful she was.

The time spent thinking on such things, had led them to a small clearing off the beaten track, a perfect spot for camping. Ashley went about setting up her tent and creating a fire on which she would prepare dinner. She then called out her pokémon and gave them their instructions for training.

"Hey Gyarados, great job today, you really came through," she started, Gyarados was preening at the praise. "That onix was one tough cookie, I couldn't be prouder of you. I want you to work on finishing Ice Fang tonight and then we'll move on to some long-ranged moves. When I get to the next town, I'll see what TMs they have, seeing as Cerulean is famous for their water pokémon, I'm sure I'll find you something good." Gyarados grunted her appreciation and then moved off to practice her Ice Fang.

"Eevee, I want you to finish Swift off tonight okay, I know you can do it. We'll then work on something completely different and I know you're going to love it." Ashley had, unbeknownst to her pokémon, already ordered a number of TMs and they were now waiting for her at the Cerulean City pokémon centre. Eevee padded off, now fully determined to learn Swift by nightfall.

* * *

The following morning Ashley reached Mt Moon, she had awoken early, in the hope of crossing the mountain in a single day. Her pokémon had trained extremely hard, the previous night and they were currently resting in their pokéballs.

The entrance of the cave was dead ahead and instantly, Ashley could see a problem, the cave was flooded with artificial light. This of course wouldn't have been a major issue, if it was only at the entrance but that wasn't the case. Venturing into the cave for the first time, Ashley saw that the ceiling was lined entirely by electrically powered lights. Looking around, she could spot many pokémon suffering from hunger and thirst. With the cave lit up as it was, the native pokémon couldn't successfully find food and the naturally damp ground was bone dry. No doubt due to the heat produced, by the inconsiderate lighting.

Ashley was incensed by damage being done the environment and she could tell the people responsible had some unsavoury motives. The whole operation had Team Rocket written all over it. Not ready to waltz into a potentially life-threatening situation unsupported, Ashley made a quick call to the Pewter City Officer Jenny and the Cerulean City Officer Jenny, telling each of them to arrange a team of officers and to gather at the entrance of the caves.

At first, she wasn't paid much attention but after they confirmed her identity and status they were tripping over themselves to help. All pokémon professors were held in extremely high regard, add to that, the two Jenny's were big fans, saw a literal battalion of officers were heading to assist in any way they could.

Ashley meanwhile ventured deeper into the cave system, the pokémon wouldn't last much longer and she needed to help where she could. As she travelled she left many filled water bowls and the odd pile of pokémon food here and there. One may wonder where she kept it all but those that knew her, also knew that a scientist capable of designing and creating both the pokéball transfer system and the many different pokéballs themselves, both of which requiring knowledge of altering the various dimensional spaces involved, would hardly leave for a lifetime long journey unprepared. The truth of the matter was simple, her pack was far from normal, it had many qualities in common with the pokéball transfer system, in that it could transfer objects in and out of its various pockets, to and from various locations, at the push of a few buttons. The controls for which, were found integrated into her custom pokédex, along with other handy conveniences.

As the teen travelled deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, that was Mt Moon, she began to hear voices some pokémon and some human. Peeking around the last corner separating her from those that were talking, she spotted a number of Rocket agents holding many trainers and pokémon hostage. Among the captive trainers, she could see Gary and Misty, clearly this operation had been in action for a little while. As much as Ashley had a severe distaste for Gary Oak, Misty was still her friend and Team Rocket was much higher up on her Hitlist. The teen cast her eye over the cages containing the wild pokémon and noticed by the design, that they were also electronically controlled. She then spotted a computer console and a mischievous idea came to her.

Ashley left the area to find a secluded place to settle down. When she had found somewhere suitable, she removed her pokédex and pushed a few buttons, A bright light could then be seen emanating from the front pocket of her pack. She put her pokédex back in her pocket and removed the newly transferred item. It was a touchscreen tablet around 12" in length and 8" in height.

She turned the device on and put in her password, she then ran a specific program, that would search the local area for any networks or computer systems that could be accessed. After a short time, the search was complete and Ashley now had access to the Rocket's computer system. She spent a bit of time finding the right commands, that would help her successfully carry out her plan. A few moments later and she was ready but before she went ahead, she released her eevee.

"Hey girl, I need you to do something very important. Some very bad people have kidnapped a friend of mine along with many other trainers and even some wild pokémon." The look on Eevee's face was that of disgust. "I'm going to turn the lights off in a moment and release the pokémon from here. What I need you to do is go and tell the pokémon what's happening tell them to cause as much trouble for the Rockets as possible. Can you do that?" Eevee yipped her agreement to the plan. "Oh, what's this? Interesting. Eevee, I just found the controls to a sprinkler system, I know you don't like getting wet but I'm sure the pokémon in those cages are severely dehydrated. I'm going to activate it once they're free. The sandshrew and geodude may not like it but it's for the best." Eevee gave her what she thought was an 'Are you serious?' look and Ashley found herself pleading to the young pokémon. "Come on Eevee, I need you to do this, it's for the pokémon. Please? I'll do anything you want?" the previous look was now replaced by a giddy grin.

Ashley was suddenly bombarded by the image of Eevee receiving various beauty and relaxation treatments at the hands of the raven-haired teen. Massages, brushing, bathing and a few other things. The images then disappeared as quickly as they arrived. Ashley was shocked that she had seen the thoughts of her pokémon but due to the situation, decided to tackle that later. "Yes, I'll bath you, brush you and massage you, the lot. Please just do this for me?"

Now it was Eevee's turn to be shocked, did her trainer just read her mind? Again, in the situation, she decided to focus on that later and instead, nodded her head in agreement to the revised plan. Ashley nodded back and counted down from three, she then ran the first command, turning out the lights throughout the entire cave system. Then the second, freeing the pokémon held captive in the main chamber. And finally, the third, turning on the sprinkler system, set up by the Rockets. This in turn, shorted out their computer and downed the network she had connected to. Ashley just had enough time to pull some data off, about the operation in the cave. Looking through said data, she found that the person who oversaw the set up was an agent called Proton, the file even had a picture. Unfortunately, he wasn't among the agents she saw moments ago so she wouldn't be getting any answers today but at least she had a name.

* * *

The main chamber was in utter chaos, since the lights had shut off, Eevee had talked to the wild pokémon and convinced them to have their revenge. Even the sandshrew stayed, despite the sprinkler system, buffeting them with their greatest weakness. The group, albeit unorganised, pushed back the confused Rockets, who were unprepared for such an incident.

The leader of the group tried desperately to get the systems back online but with the electronics now saturated, there was little that could be done. One by one the Rockets and their pokémon fell into unconsciousness at the hands of the wild ones. Pokémon would rarely attack humans but in this instance, is would certainly be forgiven, these people were anything but humane. They threatened to take away their freedom and remove them from their home, knocking them out was the least they could do.

Eevee was leading a small group of wild pokémon, whose mission was to secure the unconscious bodies of the defeated Rocket members. With the help of a few sandshrew and geodude, who were acting on Eevee's orders, she ensured they were buried up to their necks, in the now wet ground. When the last one was dealt with and the relatively short battle was over, most of the pokémon disappeared into the cave, to go about their lives. Two however, followed Eevee, when she made to return to her trainer.

* * *

Ashley was sat waiting patiently for her eevee to return, she hadn't wanted to send her into the fray like that but she knew it was the best way to handle it. With the darkness blinding them, the Rockets wouldn't have put up much of a fight, with or without their pokémon.

It was a few minutes later that her thoughts were broken by the approaching footsteps, she made out Eevee's footsteps and with her, were two bipedal pokémon of around the same size. This ability to analyse the sound, came from her more sensitive hearing. Just as her ability to see in areas of little to no light, came from her more sensitive sense of sight.

Eevee turned the last corner and approached her trainer with a confident gait. The two pokémon accompanying her, were revealed to be a sandshrew and a clefairy. Ashley was initially shocked that a clefairy would so willingly show themselves but Eevee must have explained her part in the rescue.

"Hey Eevee, you had me worried there, is everything sorted?" Ashley asked her faithful starter, as she climbed into her lap, still soaking wet. This was no doubt punishment, for sending her out to get soaked by those sprinklers. "Who are your friends?" Eevee then padded back over to the new arrivals and seemingly introduced them to the teen in her own language. "It's nice to meet you Sandshrew, Clefairy." They each chorused their name in reply. "So, what's up, why did you guys want to meet me?"

Sandshrew simply pointed at Eevee, then at Ashley and moved to nuzzle her leg. The teen understood this and removed another luxury ball from her pack, then held it out the little mouse pokémon. He quickly tapped the ball and was sucked inside, there was zero struggle and the ball dinged its successful capture instantly. Ashley then turned to Clefairy in askance of the same question. Clefairy made a follow me motion and promptly ran off into the cave. They passed by the main chamber where Ashley activated her Emergency Signal feature on her pokédex. This would let the Jenny's know the location of the still bound trainers and the incapacitated Rockets. She then continued following the surprisingly speedy fairy pokémon.

The trip took about another ten minutes, by which time they came to another opening in the cave, this time without a ceiling, looking up Ashley saw the most beautiful full moon. Her attention was then brought to the small pink pokémon she had been following, as it tapped her leg. It then pointed to the centre of the massive room and what Ashley saw there, surprised even her. A Moonstone the size of a van was sat in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by dozens of clefairy, all apparently worshipping it.

The teen looked on in wonder, at the never before seen evolution ceremony of the clefairy. When the worshipping had come to its end, the clefairy all raised their hands in front of them and rhythmically wagged their fingers from side to side. It was the move metronome. Ashley was slightly nervous as to what the result would be but watched with rapt attention nonetheless. The clefairy suddenly stopped and started to glow a brilliant white, the energy built and built until a huge explosion rocked the cave, centred on the gigantic Moon Stone.

Ashely had to dive for cover as debris pelted the walls of the cave behind them, she used her body to cover Eevee, protecting her from harm. Looking up from her crouched position, the teen witnessed something incredible, the small flecks of Moon Stone that were scattered to the sky, began to fall and land on a select few clefairy. They were then ensconced in another blindingly bright light, before emerging as newly evolved clefable. The flecks that landed on the ground around them, were quickly gathered up by the clefable and placed back in the centre of the room, in a pile. The separate pieces seemed to merge once more and return to the single entity that it once was. This phenomenon had never before been witnessed and it was with great pleasure that Ashley finally solved the mystery of the clefairy line's evolution.

* * *

Ashley was now clear of Mt Moon. After clefairy had asked to join her team, carrying with it a portion of Moon Stone, she had of course accepted and offered her a luxury ball. After the successful capture, she had gone back to the main chamber, knowing the police force would have arrived, a short time before. She quickly had explained her involvement in the failure of Team Rocket's plans and the rescue mission she had carried out. This of course made her the best thing since sliced bread, in the eyes of the two Jenny's, who made a point of asking for a photo. The captive trainers had been sent to the local hospital, to be checked for injuries, where they would also be treated for severe dehydration. Ashley never had the chance to see Misty, before she was taken out of the cave system, towards Cerulean City Hospital.

'Probably for the best,' she thought, 'she might still be upset.'

With Eevee again, riding shotgun on Ashley's shoulder and her two new friends safely resting in their pokéballs, Ashley set off towards her next destination.

'Cerulean City, here we come!'


	5. Chapter 5: Anything but Superior

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

Chapter 5: Anything but Superior

* * *

Two days it took to reach Cerulean City, mostly because the Ashley stopped regularly at the various lakes and rivers that could be found on the way. She promised that Gyarados would get to swim as often as possible and she wasn't about to break a promise she made to her pokémon. Along with swimming Gyarados did some hard training and Ashley managed to teach her a new move. She hadn't mastered it just yet but Hydro Pump was a must know among all water types. Finally, she had something with a bit of range, Dragon Rage had range but it took a lot more out of her. A high price to pay, for a move that wasn't as powerful. That's what you should expect, from a move that isn't of your natural type.

Eevee had been working hard, improving her speed, this would aid her in using her preferred battle style. She was a hit and run battler for now. Of course, this could all change, depending on her chosen evolution. Ashley had talked with the small fox pokémon, at great length about her future change and despite not understanding Eevee completely, they had come to an agreement. Eevee would be free to choose her path for herself.

Ashley had taken advantage of the many breaks, to get to know her new additions. Clefairy was a surprisingly confident pokémon, in both everyday life and battling. For a pokémon who had spent its entire life, solely in the company of her own kind, she gelled very well with the other members. Her current move-set included, Disarming Voice, Pound, Growl, Double Slap and surprisingly, Mega Punch and Mega Kick. The last two moves were a testament, to how up close and personal, she really liked to be. Her ability Magic Guard, was extremely helpful. It negated any damage taken by the status conditions burn, poison and the move Leech Seed. It also prevents the pokémon from being affected by entry moves, such as Spikes and negates recoil damage. She was a very tough pokémon.

Sandshrew was strong too, if anything, slightly stronger than Clefairy. His move-set included, Scratch, Defence Curl, Sand Attack, Poison Sting, Rollout, Fury Cutter, Magnitude, Dig and his egg move Counter. His ability and his suspected hidden ability, were only any use during a sandstorm but you never know, they may come in handy one day. His incredibly high endurance and defence, indicated just how close he was to evolving. Ashley had witnessed evolution many times, during her scientific career but she still could barely wait to see one of her own pokémon, go through the transition.

* * *

Ashley had just entered the pokémon centre, when she spotted the resident Nurse Joy. Being one of the eldest in the family, Ashley hadn't had the opportunity to meet her yet. She could barely believe how well the entire family aged, Pewter City Joy's grandmother, didn't look a day over 45. Putting the thoughts of the Joy's superior gene pool to one side, she greeted the nurse.

"Good evening Nurse Joy, would you look at my pokémon please?" she asked. Ashley knew her pokémon were in tip-top shape, she let the nurses use the rejuvenation machine, simply because the pokémon enjoyed it.

"But of course, young lady. I'll take them off your hands for a few minutes." Handing the pokéballs over, she expressed her thanks.

"Thanks Nurse Joy. I don't suppose a package has arrived for Professor Ashley Ketchum?" Joy eyed her suspiciously, she knew of the incredibly young professor but needed some proof that, this was in fact her.

"I will need to see some identification, please?"

"This should do the trick," Ashley said offering her custom pokédex to the nurse. The device chimed its standard introduction, satisfying the nurse's curiosity.

"Everything seems to be in order and yes a package did arrive for you professor. I'll just be a moment." Ashley was waiting patiently, for the nurse to return, when something on the TV caught her attention. She wasn't surprised the screen surrounded by teenage boys, when she saw the world famous Sensational Sisters, performing one of their water shows.

'As hot as ever I see,' she thought. unfortunately for her, before she could join in with the drooling boys, staring at the scantily clad Waterflower sisters, Joy came back.

"Here we are, one package for Professor Ketchum. In future, we could ensure that any package delivered for you, gets taken straight to the professor suite?" she said handing Ashley both her package and her freshly rejuvenated pokémon.

"That won't really be necessary Joy, I won't be in town too long," Ashley responded, she was happy to simply address the nurse as Joy, now that her status, had been revealed.

"But professor, when I say we, I mean all of the Joys. In future, any package delivered to a pokémon centre, anywhere in the region, will be delivered directly to the suite. This is what most other professor request," responded the nurse.

"Oh, well in that case, I'd really appreciate that." She started towards her usual room, only to stop and call back over her shoulder. "And Joy, I insist that any member of your family, need only to call me Ashley." Joy simply nodded and so Ashley continued to her room.

When she had settled in, she removed her TM case from her bag and opened her package. She placed the 5 disk-like objects into the TM case, bringing her total usable TMs to 6. She had Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Double Team, Shadow Ball, Brick Break and of course, Rock Throw and it just so happens, that with her latest captures, she had uses for all but one.

Placing the pokéballs in the designated slot one by one, she transferred the knowledge of each move to her chosen pokémon. Eevee got Shadow Ball, Gyarados got Ice Beam and Thunderbolt, Sandshrew got Brick Break and Double Team, and Clefairy got Double Team. She intended to use Eevee and Clefairy in her upcoming gym battle, so didn't want to risk having them, bite off more than they can chew.

Satisfied with her use of the TMs she released the 3 smaller pokémon. Eevee, Clefairy and Sandshrew all appeared in a show of light.

"Hey guys, you can probably already feel that you have some new moves. We're gonna be training them bright and early tomorrow. For now, I thought it would be nice for you to sleep outside of your pokéballs." She then brought the dive ball to her mouth and spoke a little above a whisper. "Sorry you can't be out too Hun, Goodnight." They all then picked various spots on the bed and curled up to sleep. Eevee was on the pillow next to Ashley, Clefairy was spread flat on her back, on the spare side and Sandshrew was curled up in a perfect ball, at the foot of the bed.

* * *

The following morning came much too soon for some of the inhabitants of the professor suite. Sandshrew and Clefairy were still getting used to the early starts. It was 6am when they left the pokémon centre for the training fields.

"Okay, let's start off one by one guys, Eevee, show me a Shadow Ball." The little fox pokémon slowly built a ball of dark energy in front of her open maw, before firing it at a sedate pace, towards a nearby boulder. After the dust had cleared the Boulder was left slightly scorched. "First of all, good job, that was a really good first attempt. You do have a couple of areas where you need to work on though so I need you to spend the first hour working on your speed, I want you to be able to fire off that move in no time flat. It's going to be your go to move from now on and has to be perfect. Can you do that for me?" Eevee yipped in affirmation, without hesitation.

"Okay, Stella, you're up, give me your best Double Team." Ashley had taken to calling her clefairy Stella, at the behest of the star shaped pokémon. Apparently, words that mean star, were common names among her kin. Stella walked back a little way, still facing Ashley. The teen bent down and picked up a couple of small pebbles. Stella then concentrated on the move and almost instantly, 10 near perfect copies appeared. Near perfect wasn't quite good enough though and Ashley didn't hesitate to lob one of the pebbles, at the clefairy she knew to be real. Stella took the hit unflinching, pokémon were very sturdy by human standards and that kind of hit would go unnoticed in a battle situation. She did seem down-heartened, that she had been figured out so easily. "Again, good job girl but you bit off a bit too much. Try starting with only one or two replications and work on making them perfect. Then we can add more, okay?" Stella perked up at this suggestion, along with the praise she received and happily moved off to practice on her own.

"Okay buddy you're up next," Ashley said to Sandshrew, who hadn't wanted a name. "You have two moves to learn but that's because you're not battling this time round. Lets start with Double Team too, that way, you can practice with Stella and you'll both have it down in no time." Sandshrew then went through the same process, Stella had done only minutes before. Despite Double Team being a normal type move, it still required a certain skill in illusions and clefairy as a species, were more talented in this area than sandshrew are. This meant that on Sandshrew's first attempt, he only managed 5 copies of low quality, leaving him feeling quite dejected. Ashley didn't feel it was necessary to rub salt in the wound, by throwing a stone at him. Instead she walked over to him and placed her hand on his mouse-like cheek. "Don't be down buddy, you held out and made a few replications, I think you did great but how about you start where clefairy is starting and aim for just one perfect copy, we'll go from there, okay?" Sandshrew, not for the first time, was left baffled by the compassion shown by his trainer. He too went off determined to train, joining up with Stella, to practice together.

Ashley then called out her behemoth of a gyarados. Being very new to her gyarados stage, she had yet to stop growing and already she was 10% larger than the average. Ashley estimated that by the time she was fully grown, assuming she received the right nutrients; which Ashley would be sure to provide, she would be around 15% bigger. The Kanto Champion Lance, currently had the biggest known specimen and it was only 11-12% bigger than the average.

"Hey Tiny," Ashley greeted the atrocious pokémon, who looked at her with contempt, before seemingly breaking into her version of a chuckle, along with her trainer. It wasn't a name as such but both Gyarados and Ashley, thought that occasionally introducing her as tiny, would garner some pretty amusing looks from their opponents. Who knew a gyarados, could have such a sense of humour? "I can't wait to see people's faces when we pull that on them!" Ashley said, pulling herself together. Gyarados was nodding in agreement. "Okay girl, lets get serious, you're gonna master Ice Beam this morning for me, right?" She received a grunt in confirmation. "Then you're to start practising Thunderbolt, whilst I'm at gym. I'll drop you off at the cape on the way and you can have yourself a nice swim." The giant sea serpent, roared to the heavens, clearly excited by the thought of an ocean swim. She then headed off to train her Ice Beam, being sure to aim her attempts, away from everyone else.

Ashley went from pokémon to pokémon offering advice, whilst preparing a delicious meal for everyone. They hadn't eaten yet, as they knew better than to train on a full stomach. By the time the meal was over it was around 11am and Ashley returned everyone but Eevee to their pokéballs. She then made the half hour trek to Cerulean Cape, where she released Gyarados, who immediately swam off to explore. It was 12am by the time she reached the gym.

* * *

Ashley entered through the front doors, she knew there was a show today and had planned it so she could catch the last 10 minutes or so. She made her way to one of the seats after paying full price at reception. That didn't sit too well with her, she wasn't exactly short on cash but that didn't mean she liked to see it wasted. The view from her seat wasn't great but even from there, she could clearly see the perfect figures, that all of the Waterflowers, somehow possessed.

'Another family with a superior gene pool,' she thought to herself.

"You're not wrong," a boy to her left said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Ashley replied. 'Did he just hear me?'

"Yeah of course I heard you, the comment about their gene pool, right? I agree completely, although, I'm a little surprised to hear you say that. Seeing as, well, you know…" Ashley was stumped by that, if he had only heard her initial comment, she could have put it down to accidently saying it out loud. Not that she had made such a mistake before but the fact he had heard her other thought, is what concerned her.

Yet another strange occurrence, that very little could explain. There was of course, one thing that could explain it all but she had long since ruled it out. However, based on this new evidence, she would have to put it back on the table. She was pulled from her thoughts, when the boy she had been speaking with, started waving a hand in front of her face.

"you with me?" he said. Ashley shook her head to clear it.

"Yeah, sorry, I kind of spaced out there."

"You're not kidding, the name's Brian, by the way," he offered.

"Ashley, it's nice to meet you Brian."

"Likewise." The two then exchanged some pleasant conversation, throughout the rest of the performance. Ashley all the while, doing her best to keep her thoughts to herself. The conversation flowed so easily between them, that Brian asked if she would like to grab some food after but Ashley refused. She told him that she wanted to get back on the road as soon as she had won her gym battle. He did ask her what she planned to do if she lost but she simply replied that she hadn't factored losing into her plans. Remarkably, she didn't come off as arrogant and the young man had found her self-confidence quite attractive.

The show was now over and the crowd had left, Brian had left her his number, just in case. He had been a great help in one sense, Ashley had so much in her life that she wasn't sure of right now but he had confirmed at least one of them. She liked girls, as in, only girls. He was a nice enough looking guy and they had got on… _swimmingly_ but there was no attraction there whatsoever.

* * *

Ashley had made her way to arena entrance and was waiting for the gym leaders to emerge. Finally, after what felt like hours but was in fact only a few minutes, they vacated the changing rooms and started heading in the other direction.

"Excuse me," Ashley said, approaching the trio. They turned around and took notice of the young girl. This was Ashley's first opportunity to see them up close and the visual stimulus, had left her slightly speechless. They stood there clad in very revealing two pieces that barely covered anything. It was reasonable to assume they wouldn't be shy, considering their hobby but this was ridiculous.

"Err… we're like not signing any autographs right now," Violet said. She as the one with blue hair.

"I'm not here for an autograph, I'm here for-" she was cut off, this time by Daisy, the blonde.

"Well, if you want an interview, you'll totally have to talk to our manager."

"Totally," Lily, the pink-haired sister, very helpfully supplied.

"Look, I'm not here for an interview or an autograph. I'm here for a badge, my name is Ashley and I challenge you to a gym battle." She didn't like being interrupted, especially when the voice that did, held such a moronic tone.

"Sorry to like, disappoint you but we're not really into battling anymore," Daisy said. Ashley didn't even know how to respond to that. "But I know what you want," she turned to walked toward the pool, "Seel!" she called. From the water, emerged a white seal-like creature, its tongue hanging dopily from its mouth.

'Like trainer, like pokémon,' Ashley couldn't help but think. At least this time, she hadn't broadcast it. Whilst she was thinking these kind of things, Daisy had grabbed a small raindrop shaped badge from the seel's tongue.

"This is what you want, right? Just take it."

"You're joking, you can't actually expect me to take that. It would mean nothing if I didn't earn it. Not to mention, it's a direct violation of the league rules to offer me that and I would be breaking them, if I took it," Ashley explained, stunned by the actions of these, so-called gym leaders.

"Hey, chill out, it's not like the league will find out, besides our pokémon are all at the centre, we only have one and she's like, too young to fight," Lily was the one who spoke this time.

"Okay, I'll tell you what, I'll come back later when your pokémon are healed, deal?" Ashley offered, rather generously, quickly losing her patience with the idiotic trio.

"We can't do that, we have rehearsals later," came the latest excuse, supplied by Violet. Ashley was royally pissed off by this point but still wanted to offer them one last choice.

"What about Misty, she can battle me, right? Where is she?"

"The runt?" Lily started, completely missing the light growl that left Ashley's throat. "We saw her in the hospital a couple of days ago but then she left for Saffron City." Clearly Ashley wasn't getting her gym battle but at the news she had just received, that seemed less important now.

"Saffron? Why is she heading there?" Ashley asked.

"She said something about meeting Sabrina, said she might be able to help a friend of hers," Violet supplied.

"Yeah, like she would have any friends," Lily said.

"Totally," agreed Daisy. Ashley was fuming, so angry was she that if anyone could see the pool behind her, they might just see quite the volume of water suspended in the air. Rather than snap at them however, she chose to simply leave, she had a much more satisfying way to get her own back. As she left she thought to herself.

'They certainly have the looks but that gene pool is anything but superior, are they really that stupid? It's a miracle Misty has both smarts and a great ass.'

Turning on her heel, Ashley missed the vast amount of water splash back into the pool. The Waterflower trio didn't however and they were left speechless, by what they had seen.

"Like, what the frack was that?" Nearly speechless anyway.

* * *

Ashley was storming her way to the cape, intent on picking up Gyarados and heading straight to Saffron City. Whilst walking, she pulled the familiar 12" tablet from her bag and dialled a number into the video call feature. The face that appeared, after a few rings, would have startled most people but Ashley was familiar with this person.

"Ashley? what's up? You never call me anymore," the man said, the final part prompting him to pout, like a child. A child with very adult, angular features and a shock of spikey, red hair.

"Lance, stop pouting, you'll give yourself wrinkles." It was none other than Lance Wataru, the champion of this region and the head of an organisation, known simply as the G-men. Ashley had met Lance at one of the many league sponsored events, she attended with her grandfather figure, Professor Oak. Lance had seen great potential in the small girl, much like everybody else and had even gone as far as to give her his contact details, in case of trouble.

"Don't even joke about that Ashley, what would all the women say, if they heard you?" Lance said in a hushed tone.

"I don't know, something along the lines of, 'Did you hear? That workaholic champion of ours, who never comes out in public and is too scared to talk to us, has got his first wrinkle. Oh no how will we keep living!', maybe?" Lance simply deadpanned at Ashley's _ridiculous_ description of him, he wasn't anything like that. Was he?

"Anyway, I did call you for a reason. You know the Waterflower sisters, right?" Ashley asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes Ashley, you know full well that I know them. They have always done the bare minimum needed to maintain their gym leader status. What about them?"

"Well, I may have exactly what you need to remove them from that post, if you wish," she said, successfully getting his undivided attention.

"really?"

"Yes, I recorded half of the conversation I just had with them. Where, in no uncertain terms, they not only refused to accept my challenge but also offered me the Cascadebadge, without a battle." She would have continued but Lances voice cut her off.

"They What!? Those no-good, idiotic bimbos. After all the chances I gave them, they go and pull this!?" he was clearly furious.

"Now lance, I know this sounds crazy but could you not remove them from the post right away?"

"What?! Why wouldn't I?" he questioned.

"The older ones are most definitely a lost cause as gym leaders, I agree but their younger sister Misty, is a talented enough trainer. If she agrees, you could have her run the gym. I know she's young but that just means she will only get better." Lance wasn't completely sold on the idea yet but she wasn't finished. "I'll track her down and ask her but in the meantime, you could send Lorelei to the gym, she could ensure they hold down the fort. I know she's really busy but this will benefit the league in the long run.

"Think of this, the sisters are world famous, right?" Seeing him nod she continued. "Now what if you allow them to continue with their shows, even sponsor a few tours, all the while you receive a hefty percentage from ticket sales. You may have to invest some money into the gym for a second pool but think of the income they could generate. With Misty as the gym leader and her sisters doing water shows, Cerulean City will see a new lease of life. Hell, even Kanto as a whole will benefit. The trainers taking the gym challenge, will also benefit from having a more challenging gym on the main circuit. So, what do you think?"

Lance wasn't used to being rendered speechless, as champion, it was more often that the shoe was on the other foot. When Ashley was involved however, it seemed to happen all too often.

"Wow… That's brilliant… Ashley, do you know where Mist is right now?" The champion asked.

"Yeah, she's heading to Saffron, she may already be there, I'm on my way now."

"From Cerulean?" His face took a quizzical look.

"Yeah, obviously, I said I just spoke to the Waterflowers, didn't I?"

"Right, sorry, it's just that the main route has been blocked of for some time. If she was heading so Saffron, she would have had to take Rock Tunnel." Ashley laughed at this. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"It's just the thought of Misty taking that tunnel, there's no way. She would rather go the long way around. I'm betting she took a boat heading to Vermilion City and plans to head north from there," she surmised.

"And what makes you think that?"

"There are two things that Misty just can't handle, four if you count carrots and peppers. Bugs and ghosts, seeing as rock tunnel comes out near Lavender Town, the ghost capital of Kanto, she would avoid that route at all costs," she finished, with a knowing smile.

"Well you certainly seem to know her pretty well, I'll leave tracking Misty down to you, I'll handle the situation at the gym in the meantime. Thanks Ashley, see ya." And just like that, the line went dead.

'Excitable as ever,' she thought to herself. "Misty's trip should take a total of 2 weeks, if I take rock tunnel, I could be there within the week. That gives me a chance to train, take part in some battles and look for some new teammates. If I stopped at the tower I could catch a ghost type, that should help with my gym battle in Saffron," In the time it took to have the call with Lance and come up with her plan of action, she had arrived at the cape.

Ashley looked far out to sea and saw her gyarados diving out of the water, she truly was a beautiful creature. She understood that they made people nervous but she couldn't imagine fearing her friend. At least that is what she thought, before having to do a double take, when she saw a massive Thunderbolt attack. The target of said attack, just so happened to be a whole school of lapras, who retaliated with a coordinated Ice Beam. Gyarados simply dove to evade the attack and came up on their flank, unleashing another Thunderbolt. This had the effect of knocking out, all but one lapras. Ashley stood there dumbfounded by her gyarados' idea of training, apparently she had progressed so far with her Thunderbolt, she saw fit to try it out in battle.

She kept a close eye on the proceedings, playing out in the ocean as she approached the surf. Apparently, the final lapras had admitted defeat and was now talking rather amicably with Gyarados. They then headed in her direction, it would seem Gyarados had noticed her arrival.

"Hey there gorgeous, who's your friend?" Gyarados roared at Ashley, not in a threatening way, she was just excited about something. Considering the situation, Ashley made an educated guess. "I see, so Lapras here feels that she has reached her limit, training amongst her own kind and was seeking a strong trainer?" Seeing both pokémon nod she continued. "She saw your strength and decided that whoever trained you, would be worthy. Am I right so far?" Another pair of nods. "If that's how you feel Lapras, then welcome to the team." Ashley then entered the surf and held out a Dive Ball, she fished from her pack. Lapras cooed and simply pressed her nose to the ball, it put up minimal resistance and pinged a successful capture moments later. The raven-haired trainer then turned to address her gyarados.

"I saw those Thunderbolts, they were really something else," she said honestly. She then made a 'come over here' gesture with her hand. Gyarados, lowered her head to her trainer and received the petting she loved so much. "You just keep on amazing me, so strong already, you are well on your way, to becoming the strongest gyarados." That single sentence made all the training worthwhile. Gyarados was so happy, that tears were actually forming in her massive eyes. She would however, argue vehemently against that accusation, for years to come.

* * *

A figure sat upon his throne like perch, idly swirling his purple glowing paw. All the while, construction men and women, were tirelessly working to completely the massive structure, he now inhabits. With many minds bent to his will, this being was building quite the home for himself. One far more suitable, than the detestable facility, that once stood in its place.

As he sat there, many monitors displayed the progress of certain, promising trainers. Most continually cycled between a number of different subjects, one however, seemed only to focus on a single girl. It showed her progress constantly, as it had done for the last 6 years or so. This was the first room, the new owner had built and from here he monitored the entire region but now, his masterpiece neared completion.

In this moment, like many before it, he was unfocused on his surroundings. His mind was lost to thoughts of his birth.

'No… birth is the wrong word, creation is much more apt,' the creature thought.

Vast open plains and beautiful mountain ranges as far as the eye could see, shame these weren't his memories. In reality, he had no memories, nothing that he could call his own, even while these humans in white coats, call him theirs. Was that all he was made for, all he was destined to be? A mere possession to be flaunted, an example of what their intelligence, can achieve?

'What is my purpose?' the floating creature thought, as he remained motionless in his sealed chamber. He then flexed, the one muscle he could use unimpeded, his mind. He searched for anything of note, anything that had changed since the last time he tried this. When doing so, he played close attention to the being, sealed in the tube next door. He hadn't much to go on but if the information he picked up from these _humans,_ were anything to go by, he felt fear. For a brand-new being, fear was unprecedented but his fear was almost instinctual.

'So much power… and these imbeciles, don't even know.' He then stretched his mind much further, feeling for life in the ocean depths and the wide-open sky. He took great pleasure in feeling the emotions of those that were free, albeit with a hint of jealousy. He was torn from his mental exercise however, when a group of humans entered the _lab_. That being the word they used, when referring to his prison and the prison of his neighbour.

"Subject 1 through 4 all failures and I fear Subject 5 will go the same way. It is yet to show any mental activity, all signs suggest, it is but a normal human baby," one of the scientists said.

"Are you suggesting we terminate her?" asked one of his colleagues, the idea leaving her quite distraught. This didn't go unnoticed by her superior.

"Not yet, we will run some additional tests. If it doesn't respond to what I have planned, well, lets just say, it wasn't truly alive in the first place." The chief scientist said, with a truly terrifying smirk on his face. "And Amber, try not to get attached to the livestock."

"Yes father," she said in response, her heart wasn't in it though. It was far too preoccupied, with the well-being of those she had been monitoring. The entourage then turned and made for the exit, leaving Amber with her thoughts. What had the man she called father become? He started this project as a means to save her from her illness and he had succeeded… but at what cost?

Amber remained unaware that her thoughts were no longer private. The more active of the two creations, could hear everything and as always; the thoughts of this single human, was the one guiding light in his otherwise dismal existence.

"I'm sorry father but I can't let you do that," she finally spoke aloud, steeling her resolve.

* * *

"Master," The figure was pulled from his thoughts by one of his female… employees. "The work on the northern sector has been completed and the rest will be finished within the month." To anyone else, the creature remained unresponsive, yet the woman spoke up once again. "Thank you Master." Then she retreated, leaving the figure alone once more.

'It won't be long now.'


End file.
